Coffee Consumption Protects Against Cirrhosis of The Liver

Coffee can obviously do much more than just wake you up. As a new study has found out, regular consumption also protects against liver damage.

Coffee and its effects on the liver

As researchers at the University of Southampton in England found out in a meta-study a few months ago, coffee has a significant effect on our liver. The scientists analysed nine long-term studies with a total of around 500,000 participants. Eight of the nine studies showed a significant reduction in the risk of cirrhosis through increased coffee consumption. Taking the results together, the experts came to the following conclusion: Just two cups of coffee a day reduced the risk of liver cirrhosis by 44 percent. In addition, they halved the risk of dying of cirrhosis.

Coffee as a miracle cure for liver disease?

No, rather not. Coffee consumption clearly reduces the risk of getting liver damage. But Samantha Heller of the Langone Medical Center in New York tells “Reuters”: “Drinking a few cups of coffee every day cannot reverse the systematic damage caused by overweight or obesity, too little exercise or excessive alcohol consumption, or drastically reduce an unhealthy diet.

How exactly coffee protects the liver is not yet clear. Further studies should shed light on this. Coffee is “a complex mixture containing hundreds of chemical components and it is unknown which of these is responsible for protecting the liver”.