Coffee consumption in the U.S. today is consistent with more than half of the nation drinking an average of 3.1 cups everyday. Last year, Medical News Today reported on studies associating coffee consumption with reduced risk of death from liver cirrhosis, lower risk of type 2 diabetes and a reduced risk of tinnitus. Now, in a recent study, Erikka Loftfield, of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues set out to research the affects of coffee consumption on the risk of melanoma.

 

What did they find? They discovered that the more coffee consumed the lower the risk of melanoma. This discovery was made by assessing data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, which involved 447,357 participants who were free of cancer at the study baseline. The participants were asked to complete a food frequency questionnaire, which detailed their coffee intake and incidence of melanoma among subjects was monitored over an average of 10.5 years, during which 2,905 participants developed the cancer.

 

What was discovered was that the more coffee they consumed daily, the less likely they were to develop melanoma during the follow-up period. Drinking four cups of coffee a day, for example was associated with 20% lower risk of melanoma. These results remained even after accounting for participant’s age, sex, body mass index, alcohol intake, smoking history, and UV exposure.

 

To learn more about how coffee and its health benefits, contact Lavanga Chiropractic today!