Does coffee help fight cancer?

Coffee, alternately touted as medicinal and denounced as health destroying over the centuries, has become one of the most popular drinks in the world today. The Boston Tea Party turned coffee into a patriotic drink in colonial America. In 1952 an ad campaign promoted the idea of a coffee break, and it quickly become a daily ritual in workplaces, homes and churches in the United States.

What’s in Coffee?

What you get in your cup of coffee varies with how the beans are grown and how you prepare it. Overall, coffee is a good source of the B vitamin riboflavin, and is also a concentrated source of antioxidant phytochemicals.

Coffee contains:

Chlorogenic acid, an antioxidant compound that is the major phenol in coffee
Quinic acid, a phytochemical that contributes to the acidic taste of coffee
Cafestol and kahweol, compounds that are extracted from the beans’ oil during brewing. Unfiltered coffee, such as French press or boiled coffee, contains these compounds
Caffeine, a naturally occurring stimulant that affects the central nervous system
N-methylpyridinium (NMB), created by roasting, may make the antioxidants more potent

Chlorogenic acid may be slightly lower in decaf coffee according to limited research, but it still contains plenty of phytochemicals. Lab studies suggest that instant may be lower in antioxidant potency than brewed coffee, though more research is needed.

Coffee and Cancer

Population studies typically look at total coffee consumption. Studies that analyzed regular and decaf coffee separately generally find similar results.

Relatively large and well-controlled population studies now provide good evidence that up to six cups of coffee per day do not increase the risk of most cancers. Current research even suggests that coffee might decrease risk of certain cancers. In some population studies, people who drink moderate amounts of coffee daily show modestly reduced risk of a wide range of cancers, especially endometrial and liver cancers, although studies show wide individual variation in impact. A 2012 large U.S. population study linked daily coffee consumption with lower overall mortality during the course of the study. When looking at cause-specific deaths, moderate consumption was not linked to cancer-related deaths.

There are several hypotheses on how coffee may possibly decrease cancer risk. Coffee is a major source of antioxidants. Limited small intervention studies suggest that coffee may improve markers of antioxidant status and reduce markers of inflammation in the short-term. Animal studies and human studies both suggest that regular and decaffeinated coffee may decrease insulin resistance, a condition that leads to high insulin levels in the body. Reducing insulin resistance could help reduce risk of cancers whose growth is promoted by excess insulin.

Article by airc.org