Drinking Coffee May Lower Risk of Liver Disease

Need another reason to start your mornings off with a fresh cup of coffee? Aside from its ability to provide a quick pick-me-up, researchers now believe that coffee can help to protect against liver disease.

Researchers from the University of Southampton in the U.K. have a found a direct link between regular coffee consumption and a reduced risk of liver cirrhosis. More specifically, adults who drink roughly two cups of coffee per day are 44% less likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver than people who do not drink coffee.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from nine existing studies, five of which were "cohort" studies while the other four were case control. This meta analysis involved some 432,000 participants. Researchers discovered that the more coffee a person consumed, the lower their risk for developing liver cirrhosis. Researchers concluded that coffee consumption could "substantially" lower a person's risk of liver cirrhosis.

As you may already know, cirrhosis is a type of liver disease that's often caused by drinking alcohol, hepatitis, immune disorders, and other liver disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that cirrhosis is responsible for roughly 1 million deaths per year.

"This could be an important finding for patients at risk of cirrhosis to help to improve their health outcomes," said Oliver Kennedy from the University of Southampton, the study's lead researcher. "However, we now need robust clinical trials to investigate the wider benefits and harms of coffee so that doctors can make specific recommendations to patients."

Of course, this isn't the study attesting to the health benefits of coffee. Other studies have shown the beverage to reduce the risk of kidney stones. There's even some belief that coffee can help protect against Alzhemier's and other forms of dimentia.

But if you're going to drink coffee for the potential health benefits that it offers, there are a few things you should know. First and foremost, try to avoid adding processed sugar to it. If you need to sweeten your coffee, use a natural alternative like Stevia.

This study was published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.