Drinking Coffee Can Protect Your Liver and Improve Your Memory

Coffee: It’s not just for waking up anymore

by Greg Marshall

Drinking Coffee Can Protect Your Liver

Twelve out of every thousand deaths in the United States are caused by cirrhosis of the liver. That’s 35,000 per year. Surprisingly, the risk of dying from liver disease may be significantly decreased simply by drinking coffee. Scientists in Milan, Italy, discovered that coffee, more than any other beverage, could inhibit the onset of cirrhosis, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic¹. Moreover, drinking coffee can also cut the risk of dementia later in life and may also offer protection against developing Parkinson’s disease.

At the University of Milan-Bicocca, data was analyzed on 732 individuals diagnosed with cirrhosis along with age-matched controls. Details were gathered on education, cigarette use, consumption of certain foods and lifetime intake of alcoholic and caffeine-containing beverages. There was a statistically significant trend toward reduced cirrhosis risk with increasing consumption of coffee.

Drinking Coffee Can Improve Your Memory

Several studies have shown that drinking coffee each day cuts the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or other forms of dementia. In one study alone, drinking five cups of coffee daily was shown to reduce damage from AD within five weeks². This was true only in coffee containing caffeine as opposed to decaf. The authors of the study attributed this effect to direct reduction of beta-amyloid production via suppression of secretase levels.

Accumulation of beta-amyloid is believed to play a role in the brain cell loss that leads to AD. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second-most common cause of degenerative brain disorder³. Researchers at the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland, conducted an epidemiological study of 29,335 Finnish subjects between the ages of 25 and 74. Coffee drinking was associated with a lower risk of developing PD.

Summing up

Moderate coffee consumption, equivalent to around four or five cups a day, has been shown to reduce the risk of liver disease and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. There is also evidence to suggest that it can reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer by protecting DNA against oxidative damage. These effects were not observed in decaf, suggesting that caffeine may be responsible for the protective effects.

Click HERE to Connect with your Daily Horoscope!