How That Third Cup Of Coffee Helps Fight Deadly Skin Cancer
We're down to just a pot a day, but we're still glad we didn't kick our coffee addiction: A new National Cancer Institute study reveals that drinking four cups of joe or more a day reduces the risk of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.
The fifth most common form of cancer in the U.S., melanoma is diagnosed in some 77,000 people annually, killing 9,500 of them.
And while limiting exposure to the sign is the number one way to decrease your risk, the compounds in coffee have been shown to reduce skin cancer risk in recent lab studies.
Researchers examined more than 447,000 people, ages 50 to 71, who were cancer-free at the start of the ten-year report. By the end, roughly 2,900 developed malignant melanomas. The most hardcore coffee drinkers—people who down four cups a day—saw their risk for melanoma drop by 20%.
In skin-cell cultures and mice, compounds found in coffee have been shown to affect molecular pathways that can reduce the risk for UV-related skin cancer. Coffee compounds have also been demonstrated to decrease inflammation, reduce DNA damage in cells and suppress carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer) altogether.
While researchers insist the NCI study is not conclusive, coffee has also been linked to a reduced risk of diabetes, depression and Parkinson’s disease.
So order that second latte—just make sure it's not (gasp!) decaf.
h/t: Forbes
