If you're a coffee drinker who's been worrying about whether that steaming
cup of java is a present pleasure for which you'll have to pay in the long-run,
fret no more. Two recent studies suggest that coffee may in fact be a boon to
your health.
Coffee's reputation as contributing to heart disease and cancer is now being
challenged by two recent studies. One, a large study from Finland published in
the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that this reputation is
undeserved. A second study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health found that drinking coffee may actually confer some
protection against bladder cancer, a cancer most often associated with cigarette
smoking.
People in the northern country of Finland appear to be the biggest coffee
drinkers in the world; their daily intake of coffee is, on average, higher than
in any other country. When researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland
surveyed more than 20,000 Finnish adults, they found that the average respondent
drank between five and six cups of coffee per day. In a country where coffee is
so popular, they were concerned. They wanted to know if it is true that habitual
coffee drinking linked to coronary heart disease (CHD). Their findings may come
as a surprise: Coffee drinking did not increase the risk of CHD; the highest CHD
death rates were among those who did not drink coffee at all. In male coffee
drinkers, there was a slightly increased risk of CHD in heavy coffee drinkers, a
risk that researchers suggest is most likely the result of cigarette smoking or
high cholesterol, rather than the coffee drinking itself.
Warmer climes were the setting for the second study in which researchers
recruited just under 500 patients from several hospitals in Spain, each of whom
had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. Each patient was interviewed about
employment history, tobacco use, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, and
diet, including coffee consumption. Results of these interviews suggest that
smoking, not coffee drinking, is the principal risk factor for bladder cancer.
Smokers who did not drink coffee were seven times as likely to develop the
disease than non-smokers. Interestingly, smokers who drank coffee were only
three times as likely to develop bladder cancer as non-smoking coffee drinkers.
The researchers note other studies suggesting that caffeine has a protective
effect where some types of cancer are concerned. The results of the Spanish
study suggest that drinking coffee may afford
"a certain protection against the carcinogenic risk associated with smoking."
While these studies suggest that moderate coffee drinking may actually be
good for you, it is important to note that the results of both studies are
preliminary. As always, you should be sure to discuss any significant dietary
changes, including coffee consumption, with your healthcare
provider.
