Cuppa Joe Protects the Liver

Drinking coffee may help prevent alcohol-related cirrhosis, according to a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine (2006, 166:1190-5). In a study coordinated out of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland, CA, Dr. Arthur L. Klatsky and colleagues studied 125,580 members of the group's health care plan who were without known liver disease at baseline (1978 to 1985). By 2001, 330 participants were diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, 199 of whom had alcoholic cirrhosis. In their review, the researchers examined etiology of the disease and compared the association of coffee drinking and certain liver enzymes.

Compared with people who never drank coffee, those consuming at least one cup of coffee per day had a 30% reduced risk of developing alcoholic cirrhosis. Greater intakes conferred greater benefits--one to three cups reduced the risk by 40%, and more than four cups daily dropped the risk by 80%. In addition, coffee drinking reduced the incidence of high levels of liver enzymes in the blood, an indication of liver damage. While the researchers could not identify any single compound in coffee that provided the health benefits, their finding that tea did not have the same impact led them to conclude it is probably not the caffeine.