Coffee Benefits: Daily coffee linked to lower risk of liver disease and liver cancer, study finds
A long-term study involving more than 354,000 people suggests regular coffee consumption may reduce the risk of cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver-related deaths.
A long-term study links daily coffee consumption with better liver health.
Coffee Benefits may extend beyond boosting energy, with a large long-term study finding that regular coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of liver disease, liver cancer and liver-related deaths.
Researchers followed more than 354,000 participants for over a decade and found that people who drank coffee every day were less likely to develop cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer. The findings were published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Dr. Hyunseok Kim, the study’s lead author and a transplant hepatologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said the research provides some of the most comprehensive long-term evidence on coffee’s impact on liver health.
Kim said the protective effect appears to extend beyond caffeine because participants who drank decaffeinated coffee also experienced similar health benefits. He suggested that coffee’s antioxidant properties may play a key role in protecting the liver.
The researchers used cases of cirrhosis to measure chronic liver disease. Cirrhosis causes permanent scarring of the liver and can result from conditions such as fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis and alcohol-related liver disease when left untreated. Hepatocellular carcinoma, which the study also examined, is the most common type of liver cancer worldwide.
The study found that the protective association generally increased with higher coffee consumption. Drinking one to two cups of coffee each day was linked to a 20% lower risk of cirrhosis, a 24% lower risk of liver cancer and a 31% lower risk of liver-related death.
People who consumed three to four cups daily showed a 35% lower risk of both cirrhosis and liver cancer, along with a 41% reduction in liver-related deaths.
Participants who drank five or more cups each day had a 32% lower risk of cirrhosis, a 47% lower risk of liver cancer and a 42% lower risk of dying from liver disease.
Lauren Manaker, a registered dietitian nutritionist who was not involved in the research, described the findings as significant but cautioned that the study identified an association rather than proving that coffee directly prevents liver disease or cancer.
The researchers said additional studies are needed to better understand how coffee protects the liver and whether specific compounds in the beverage are responsible for the observed health benefits.
