Is Coffee Good or Bad for You Today? Part 2

Last Friday, we looked at how coffee consumption, caffeine to be more specific, was associated w/lower risk of basal cell skin cancer.  Well, in a prospective cohort study of 6,017 British men published in Nutrition Journal last month, the authors concluded that coffee consumption is associated w/lower risk of high grade prostate cancer.  Plan on buying some stock in Starbucks or your favorite certified organic, sustainably produced, socially responsible, small batch coffee roaster, since only men who drank >3 cups/d noted any benefit, even after taking into account the usual suspects, such as body mass index, smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure, alcohol & even tea consumption.  

Strengths of the study included an exceptional follow up period of 28 years on average after starting out at 48 years old at time of screening.  It should be noted that coffee consumption only affected (55% lower relative risk of) high grade prostate cancer (Gleason score >7).

As I've noted in the past, I like to look for trends (not that they're always right) rather than flukes.  The above conclusion is actually consistent with an analysis of the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study published last June in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute of 47,911 men followed for 20+ years w/food questionnaires obtained every 4 years.  The downside?  The only men who benefited were those who drank >6 cups/d compared to those who drank none.  That's a lot of joe!

So we have the beginnings of a trend.  But does this prove cause & effect?  Since both of these studies are observational, albeit prospective, the answer is no.  We need a randomized controlled trial, double blinded & placebo controlled, to demonstrate proof.  But in the meantime, we needn't feel guilty about going back for another cup of coffee.  Stay tuned for another caffeinated study, this time linking coffee to heart failure.

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