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Caffeine Prevents Liver Disease
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.'"
Plus, they were able to become the First Poster, at nearly twice the rate!
The other folks are drinking booze instead.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
My four Diet Cokes during the day should balance the 12 beers each evening.
How many people in the study were killed off by high blood pressure before they had the chance to develop cancer?
Green tea has caffeine just like coffee but has immeasurably more benefits, such as reducing the likelihood of all kinds of cancers and tumors. Further, it has been shown in some studies to do more good for the heart than a glass of wine every day. All coffee has is caffeine.
So first we find out that masturbation lowers the risk of prostate cancer, and now we learn that caffeine prevents liver disease.
Dude, I'm going to live forever!
I suppose this explains the reason why I always want to drink coffee after getting wasted... the liver knows best ;)
;)
Hey, it sounds better then that bumper sticker, "The liver is evil and must be destroyed"
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Caffeine in the morning to awaken the mind and refresh the liver. Alcochol at night to knock 'em both back down again for a good night's sleep.
So I guess Irish Coffee sorta balances it out? The liquor trashes the liver, the caffiene saves it. And isometric intoxication too!
Now where's my Bushmills and Jamaica Blue coffee beans?
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
Everything in moderation, even moderation.
There is no "trick" to living longer, just use commmon sense.
Red Wine = Lower risk of heart disease
Coffee = Lower risk of Liver disease
Turns out the smug buggers were right all along to laugh at the latest health craze from the US.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
"Vinson and his team studied the content of antioxidants in various foods, like vegetables, fruits, tea and cocoa. They eventually decided to look at coffee as well. When they did, they found that both regular and decaffeinated coffee contain significant amounts of antioxidants, though Vinson does note that fruits and vegetables are more nutritious sources.
What kind of health benefits can people expect to receive from drinking coffee? According to Martin, "Predominantly in epidemiologic studies, there have been associations between coffee consumption and lowered rates of certain illnesses, like suicide, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, Type II diabetes, colon cancer and heart disease." (Epidemiologic studies are often historical trials that are not considered definitive by clinicians.)"
How pathetic are you that you follow me from topic to topic and waste all your mod points at once modding me down?
Studies show that with absolute certainty, sleep is lethal. Everybody who has ever slept will at some point die. It is unavoidable. We better stay away from it.
In other news, stupidity (and the blind belief in statistical based research) causes cancer.
Jolt doesn't beat the caffeine in most types of coffee. The sugar, on the other hand, is a different story :)
The study shows protection for people who drink too much, are overweight or have hemochromatosis (too much iron). Basically, anyone at a high risk of liver disease. Otherwise it doesn't seem to do much of anything.
"You could be trading your teeth for a healthier liver, right?"
And, hey, teeth are relatively easy to replace. No organ donor is even required.
The trick to longevity has a lot to do with picking the right parents!
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Alcohol --> Bad for the liver
Coffee --> Good for the liver
Does this mean that Kahlua cancels itself out? If so, I'm going to get trashed tonight!!
"Positively jumping with pep, vim and vigor"
I use EMACS, you insensitive clod!
Good news, to be added to the possibility that caffeine is is linked to protection from Parkinson's disease. Makes those first couple of mugs of coffee taste that much sweeter... well, that and 2 heaping tablesoons of sugar and all the packets of Splenda® I can find.
GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
And decaffeinated coffee was recently discovered to raise your LDL cholesterol, the bad kind. Always a tradeoff, eh?
Caffeine's a diuretic. I'll bet any diuretic will do the same.
Well, I guess drinking a few Irish Coffees a day isn't as bad for your liver as you thought it was.
Kind of reminds me of my senior year in college, when I realized most of my vitamin C came from the screwdrivers I drank.
"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
Anyways, I'm not sure caffeinated beer is a good idea. Generally speaking, unless you're really partying hard, your motor skills and level of consciousness decline as your BAC goes up... preventing alcohol poisoning. If you throw a stimulant into the mix, it might keep you drinking well past the point where you should be on the floor & passed out.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Repeat as necessary.
The incidence of liver disease among non-hepatitis infected people is incredibly small. If you take all comers it is 12th among cause of death (lower than suicde) according to the NIH (pdf of causes of death).
Because even if the result is statistically significant, if not that many people die of it (~2500 in 2003), then the harm caused by this drug (caffine) may not outway the rare case it saves (and yes, I understand if you're the one it is significant, but this is public health)
For instance "Zipia reduces aliens ripping out of your abdomen by 99%" sounds very impressive, until you look at how many people this would affect (there were the 4 alien movies plus spaceballs). So everyone should not start using zipia, which undoubtably will cause some bad side effect, versus those few actors who would be saved.
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...
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I grow tired of these kinds of "studies", those that say drinking beer, wine, tea, coffee, coke, or even smoking have some benefits. Especially when they start saying that 1 or 2 cups or servings of someting will prevent something else.
These studies are generally aimed at foods or products that are generally considered to be unhealthy or otherwise, the people making these products are in a defensive position to try and validate their existence.
The problem is that there are those people just waiting for an excuse to over-indulge in these products. If drinking 2 cups of beer a day prevents cancer, then by drinking 12 I will live to 100, right?
Often people just read the caption without reading the entire article, or in many cases, the finer points of the study are excluded to a terse clipping of the conclusion without preventing the facts, those facts usually explaining how overindulgence could cause adverse medical problems. This is the case here in Slashdot where many people simply read the blurb without delving into the hyperlinked article.
Also, these studies are usually contradictory to other studies. Recently it was reported on Slashdot that drinking even one cup of coffee was linked to some kind of adverse health issue. The studies conflict each other, meaning that the truth of the matter is never effectively conveyed by both parties. People that love coffee will be quicker to believe that it is more beneficial to them then those that don't drink it, who would quote coffee is harmful to you.
Lastely, these studdies generally ignore other serious health issues that might go along with the consumption. Like the fact that most people take cream and sugar in their coffee. Many people in Canada love their double/doubles (2 creams and 2 sugars). This study suggests that drinking two cups of coffee a day has positive health effects, but for those that like cream and sugar in their coffee, this means drinking in addition to the coffee, one will consume 4 servings of high fat cream and 4 teaspoons of suger. The high fat in cream and excessive calories of the sugar are sure to be more harmful to your health then whatever positive effects the coffee may have on your health. Those that feel more is better will consume more high fat cream and high calorie sugars which will exponentially have a negative effect on their health, in addition to ignoring disclaimers by the study that too much coffee could have a detrimental effect.
Finally, there are those people who consider themselves well learned and so propose that its the caffine in coffee that is beneficial, so drinking a couple cups of cola should also be beneficial, or popping a couple of caffine pills or those high-caf beverages. The study mentions that drinking 2 cups of coffee or tea a day is beneficial, but the Slashdot article only says that Caffeine prevents liver disease, a discrepancy in the facts presented.
In any case, one should never blindly use these articles as an excuse to continue or start a bad habit. There are MANY healthy ways to prevent Liver Disease, drinking two cups of coffee a days to cure a hangover after consuming an excess of alcohol the previous night probably won't have a positive effect on your liver.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
I honestly believe piling the blood with a plethrora of substances doesn't eventually do a body good. I've been utterly strung out on so much caffeine, from the days I worked 16-18 hour days for months straight, I slept fitfully and effectively went through detox every weekend, before starting again on Monday. I went through a pound of coffee a week at that time. I certainly didn't feel any better for it.
Mostly I limit my pints and if I'm wobbly afoot, I sit down and drink water until I feel clearer of head. Also helps reduce the chance and serverity of hangovers.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
that will just give your liver wings
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
The article doesn't actually back up that it's caffeine that prevents liver disease. It simply shows that *coffee or tea* prevent it. I wonder what other common substances (besides water) they have in them that could alternatively be providing the benefits.
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.
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.660/news_det ail.asp
Sentance #1 from TFA: Coffee and tea may reduce the risk of serious liver damage in people who drink too much alcohol,
Of course, they could just stop drinking so much alcohol...
Nothing to see here
This article obviously wasn't meant for much more than a quick conversation piece. There is litte, if any, scientific data presented.
In general, coffee is quite a bit more caffinated than tea. Brewed coffee is around 135mg, instant around 95mg, whereas the most common teas (lipton green, instant black, etc) have about 35-40mgs. So statements like "one or two cups of coffee OR TEA" puts the targetted intake anywhere between 70mg and 270mgs per day. How useful.
1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
How many cups of coffee do I need per beer to prevent scirosis?
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May the Maths Be with you!
Who the hell listens to these 'studies' anyway!?
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA. Slow down people! Everyone's automatically assuming that caffine is the key ingredient here. Yet no one has yet made the connection that both Coffee and Black Tea also contain copious quantities of Tannic Acid. Soda pops such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, and RC also share this characteristic. For all we know, they could do a study next week that finds drinking 32oz of Cola per day has the same "health" effect.
From the sound of this article, this was probably a preliminary study. i.e. They surveyed 10,000 people to get their responses, established that some effect was beating the statistical odds, then published their results. From here they will try to get funding to do more thorough studies, and potentially isolate the exact compound responsible for the statistical difference.
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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.
Bill Stewart
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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.