Is Coffee Good or Bad for You Today?

Someone must like coffee.  Actually, a lot of you like your morning cuppa joe.  Serendipitously & coincidentally, what I found fascinating was a series of studies published in different journals over the last few weeks, all singing the praises of coffee consumption.  Not being a conspiracy theorist, I didn't look to consider whether they were all funded by Juan Valdez (he didn't) or published out of the same academic center (they weren't).

Taken in reverse chronologic order, an analysis of both the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study was published earlier this week in Cancer Research in which the authors compared cases of basal cell carcinoma (BCC = 22,786), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC = 1,953), and melanoma (741) to the overall cohorts, 121,700 women & 51,529 men, followed for 24yrs and 22yrs, respectively.

With regards to BCC, total caffeine consumption demonstrated an inverse association, from high quintile to lowest.  When coffee consumption was specifically analyzed, men & women who drank great than 3 cups per day had a 10-20% lower BCC risk compared to those who drank less than 1 cup/month.  Decaffeinated coffee did not show a similar relationship, suggesting that it's the caffeine rather than the coffee.  Moreover, tea, cola & chocolate consumption also demonstrated a similar inverse relationship w/BCC.

Interestingly, no such link was found between caffeine, coffee, tea, cola & chocolate consumption, together or separately, with regards to SCC or melanoma.  Clearly then, a skin cancer is not a skin cancer is not a skin cancer.  Regardless, this study would suggest that we needn't worry about caffeine & coffee consumption, at least not with regards to SCC.

Stay tuned for a look at how coffee consumption is linked to prostate cancer and heart failure!

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