A new study suggests that increasing your coffee intake may help reduce your chances of developing alcohol-related cirrhosis, kutv reports.
The review was published by the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics of multiple existing studies. The review, published January 25, is the first meta-analysis to show the potential protective properties of coffee.
The researchers analyzed nine studies that examined the relationship between coffee consumption and the risk of cirrhosis.
Dr. Oliver Kennedy, who conducted the research as part of a team at Southampton University in the United Kingdom said that the team combined the data of these existing studies to calculate a clearer link between coffee and the risk of cirrhosis, according to CNN.
"Cirrhosis is potentially fatal and there is no cure as such," said lead author Dr. Oliver Kennedy of Southampton University in England, according to Huffington Post.
"Therefore, it is significant that the risk of developing cirrhosis may be reduced by consumption of coffee, a cheap, ubiquitous and well-tolerated beverage."
The researchers said drinking just two more cups of coffee every day might lower the risk of developing the liver condition by 44%. The researchers found that the risk of cirrhosis was lower at higher levels of coffee consumption.
"For example, compared to no coffee, 1 cup per day was associated with a 22% lower risk of cirrhosis and 4 cups per day was associated with a 65% lower risk. However, there may be an upper limit beyond which there is no further benefit," Kennedy said.
More than 430,000 participants were a part of the nine studies. In eight of the nine studies examined, researchers found increasing coffee consumption by two cups per day was "associated with a statistically significant reduction in the risk of cirrhosis."
However, Dr. Hillel Tobias, a liver specialist and chairman of the American Liver Foundation's National Medical Advisory Committee, says the possible preventative effects of coffee are not new.
A 2015 report also cited a potential link between coffee's health benefits and cirrhosis preventions.
"The problem is that most professionals in the liver community find this hard to accept," Tobias told CNN.
"The physiological and biochemical basis has not been established and some experimental evidence is needed. Right now, many of these studies are based on historical information provided by patients."
Kennedy said that more research was needed in this field,
"We now need to conduct proper clinical trials, similar to those necessary for authorization of a new pharmaceutical product, so that doctors and health policy makers can make specific recommendations, he said.
