Health Four cups of coffee every day protect against cancer

Scientists are studying the protective effect of coffee on disease

There have been many reports of the positive effects of coffee consumption in recent times. A few years back, researchers said to coffee that increased consumption was not conducive to human health. Now, however, clarify any confusion about coffee and doctors confirm that coffee is quite a healthy food with many positive effects.

Researchers at the University of Southhampton found in their study that coffee is healthy and can have many beneficial effects on human health if consumption is not exaggerated. The experts published the results of their study in the English-language journal British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Many Germans drink three to four cups of coffee a day. An analysis of various studies has now shown that the consumption of four cups of coffee daily can protect against diseases. (Image: al62 / fotolia.com)

Researchers analyze 201 observational studies and 17 clinical investigations

In the past, coffee drinkers often heard that they should not consume so much of the caffeine-containing beverage as it would harm their health. However, the current research has found that consuming four to five cups of coffee a day does not harm your health if coffee drinkers are not pregnant or have an increased risk of bone fractures. For their large-scale analysis, the scientists evaluated a total of 201 observational studies and 17 clinical studies.

Coffee benefits health more than it harms

The current analysis is by no means the first scientific study to highlight the benefits of using coffee. The doctors come to the conclusion in their work that coffee benefits the health more than harms. In the past, other so-called meta-studies have shown similar results.

Which ingredients lead to a protective effect?

There are about a thousand biochemical ingredients that the roasted coffee contains. So far, however, it is unclear which of these ingredients lead to a protective effect on health. The previous studies could not determine which mechanisms are behind the identified positive effects.

Coffee can protect against various forms of cancer

The scientists noticed in their analysis that many of the ingredients contained in coffee or consumed with the beverage do not significantly reduce the beneficial effects of coffee. This includes, for example, the sugar often taken with the coffee. However, smoking is a major exception when it comes to influencing the protective effect of coffee. If coffee drinkers abstain from smoking, the coffee will take full advantage of its risk minimization in numerous widespread illnesses. These include various forms of cancers such as prostate cancer, skin cancer and liver cancer. But also type 2 diabetes, gout, certain liver cirrhosis and gallstones are influenced by the consumption of coffee.

Coffee consumption has a positive effect on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

Coffee also appears to have a positive impact on some neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. In many of these conditions, but not all of them, a protective effect could also be detected by the regular consumption of decaffeinated coffee, explain the scientists.

The safe daily maximum dose of caffeine is about 400 milligrams

Now, some coffee drinkers wonder how much coffee should be consumed per day to benefit from the protective effect of coffee. The recommended safe daily maximum dose is about 400 milligrams of caffeine, according to the medical experts. In other words, coffee does not only seem to be a tasty, but also a safe and healthy food. Certainly, the consumption of coffee is not really therapeutic, but a certain protective effect is quite certain, add the physicians. (As)