Recently, Dutch scientists discovered that patients with colorectal cancer who had a coffee drinking habit had a significantly reduced chance of cancer recurrence after treatment. The findings, published earlier this year in the International Journal of Cancer, add to the list of health benefits of drinking coffee.
Coffee is a necessity in many people’s lives. If they don’t drink it for a day, they will feel like something is wrong with their whole body. Drinking coffee not only has a sense of ritual, but also has a refreshing effect. In addition, many studies have shown that drinking coffee is helpful for health. There have been relevant reports on preventing cardiovascular disease, reducing the risk of diabetes, and avoiding Parkinson’s disease. Recent studies have further pointed out that drinking coffee every day can also help prevent the occurrence of liver cancer and colorectal cancer. As for whether you can still drink coffee after you have cancer? What impact does it have on the condition? This remains to be clarified by further research.
In this study, scientists from Wageningen University in the Netherlands followed more than 1,700 patients with stage 1, 2 or 3 colorectal cancer. During approximately 6 years of follow-up, 257 patients had cancer recurrence and 309 died (from various causes including colorectal cancer). Further analysis showed that patients who drank more than 4 cups of coffee a day had a 32% lower risk of colorectal cancer recurrence after treatment than those who drank less than 2 cups a day. In addition, drinking four cups of coffee a day also reduced the risk of death by 30%. It is worth noting that if you drink more cups of coffee every day, the risk of death will increase instead of decreasing. Drinking more is not necessarily better.
Healthy coffee is black coffee without added sugar
The inverse association observed in this study between coffee intake and colorectal cancer recurrence is similar to the results of another previous study on coffee intake and colorectal cancer recurrence. However, this study tracked more patients. The previous study only included more than 900 patients, all of whom had stage 3 colorectal cancer. After statistical analysis of the data in this survey, scientists obtained more credible results.
Through what mechanism does coffee help fight cancer? Studies have shown that it can reduce the damage to cells caused by oxidative stress by activating the ability of cells to scavenge free radicals. Coffee can also improve the composition of intestinal bacteria, which may help prevent colorectal cancer. Drinking coffee may also reduce fatty liver disease by improving liver function in cancer patients, thereby preventing cancer cells from metastasizing to the liver.
Finally, healthful coffee usually refers to black coffee without added sugar. If you prefer sugary coffee, the downside may follow, and the sweeter it is, the less healthy it is. Previous studies have shown that black coffee can reduce the risk of diabetes, but sugary coffee can actually increase the risk. On the other hand, some studies have shown that coffee containing only a small amount of sugar can still have health benefits, so it should be okay to add a small amount of sugar according to personal preference.
(First image source: shutterstock)
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