Caffeine Prevents Liver Disease 294
DC Jeff writes "The Washington Post reports that drinking two cups of coffee or tea daily may reduce the risk of liver disease. From the article: 'The study of nearly 10,000 people showed that those who drank more than two cups of coffee or tea per day developed chronic liver disease at half the rate of those who drank less than one cup each day.'"
That's because..... (Score:5, Interesting)
O Rly? (Score:5, Interesting)
There's the rub (Score:5, Interesting)
So does this mean... (Score:2, Interesting)
Coffee --> Good for the liver
Does this mean that Kahlua cancels itself out? If so, I'm going to get trashed tonight!!
With tradeoffs (Score:3, Interesting)
Armchair doctors says: (Score:3, Interesting)
Other effects (Score:2, Interesting)
Water loss leads impaired kidney function, and loss of vital nutrients, i.e., calcium. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/columnnn/nn0311
So unless your the rare geek who staggers each $caffeinatedDrink with two glasses of water and a Flinstones vitamin - your on the loosing end. But what the hell, everything will kill you in one way or another...
What's in the drink? (Score:2, Interesting)
I think a good follow-on study might be to try caffeine pills vs placebos - although since we're talking about preventing disease rather than curing it, that study could take a generation or more.
Re:O Rly?--yeah, really (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Sod That! (Score:2, Interesting)
Irish Coffee, for the best of both? (Score:3, Interesting)
A.C. commented that it's probably because of the diuretic effects of caffeine making you drink more liquids, which was also my first guess. However, it could equally well be incorrect - caffeine tends to dehydrate you more than the liquid in the coffee or tea replenishes, so unless you're careful to make up for it with water or other non-alcoholic non-caffeinated drinks, you mostly tend to have less water in your system.
Re:Sod That! (Score:3, Interesting)
Even if there is a positive correlation (those that drink more coffee tend to have less cancer) that does Not mean that coffee is that catalyst in reducing cancer. Maybe those that are genetically less likely to get cancer share a trait where they also have a predisposed liking for caffeine.