According to a recent study, consuming coffee can lead to 50% reduced risk of colon cancer.
The researchers point that the more coffee you consume, the lower the risk of colon cancer, and there’s no difference if the coffee is decaf or regular.
Senior researcher and Clalit National Israeli Cancer Control Center director, Dr. Gad Rennert, explains that the protective feature of the coffee doesn’t come from the caffeine, but from many other antioxidants released during the process of roasting.
Rennert points that although these discoveries can’t prove that this drink lowers the risk of this type of cancer, still the correlation seems strong.
He adds that after long period of doubting if the coffee may cause dangers to our health, today they finally have proof that coffee is in fact beneficial.
For the purpose of the study, the team of Rennert made a comparison between the collected data from over 5,100 patients with colon cancer from North Israel, with over 4,000 people without history of such cancer.
The involved participants were asked about the amount of coffee they consumed, including instant, filtered, decaffeinated, and espresso, as well as other risk influences of this type of cancer, like diet, smoking, inherited cancer genes, and physical activity.
What the researchers discovered was that 1 to 2 cups of coffee on a daily basis was connected to 26 % lowered risk of colon cancer, whereas over 2 and a half cup a day to 50% lowered risk of this cancer.
Rennart added that the risk of this type of cancer was reduced regardless of the coffee type people consumed.
Susan Gapstur from the American Cancer Society, reported that this study’s discoveries are in agreement with other related studies.
Nevertheless, Gapstur said that there were studies conducted on healthy people with the purpose to note who develops cancer, which collected data on dietary factors among which is the coffee.
The results didn’t show significantly reduced risk of this type of cancer in coffee lovers as oppose to coffee nondrinkers, so the discoveries of this study need to be taken into account with caution.
According to the professor in the medicine department at Boston’s Harvard Medical School, Dr. Andrew Chan, there’s a supporting proof that suggests link between the reduced risk of colon cancer and coffee.
He continues to say that identifying of the protective mediums in coffee, would mean using them in the prevention and treatment of colon cancer.
As he notes, coffee can help scientists to understand the development of colon cancer.
This repost was published in the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention journal on 1st of April.
This type of cancer is the 3rd most common type of cancer in Americans. About 4 % of women and 5% of men develop this type of cancer during their lives.
According to the American Cancer Society, this year there will be more than 95,000 diagnoses of colon cancer, and 39,000 of rectal cancer.
Via Every Day Health