Coffee drinkers ‘may be at lower risk’ of liver disease

Drinking three or more cups of coffee a day may lower risks of liver disease.

A preliminary study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition found that participants who drank three-plus cups of coffee a day were 21 percent less likely to find themselves hospitalised with liver-related illnesses.

“Coffee drinkers may be at lower risk for liver disease,” said lead researcher Mariana Lazo, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore.

The findings also show that “low and moderate levels of coffee may not be harmful to the liver”.

Coffee’s link to healthier livers was sustained even after the researchers adjusted for other factors, such as race and income, other health issues and individual diets.

“The concept that drinking coffee is good for the liver is not a new one,” said David Bernstein, director of hepatology at the Sandra Atlas Bass Center for Liver Diseases at Northwell Health in Manhasset.

“There have been several large studies with cumulatively more than 430,000 participants that have found that drinking coffee was linked to a significant decrease in developing cirrhosis especially among those who overeat or drink alcohol.

“The findings in this study support the current body of evidence that coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of developing advanced liver disease.”