Research Confirms Coffee’s Magical Medicinal Properties

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A hot-off-the-presses report from the American Cancer Society gives coffee connoisseurs several serious and compelling reasons to continue refilling their “bottomless” cups. Now, everyone who depends on daily decoctions of the magic bean to jump-start and turbo-charge their systems can tell their friends in all sincerity, “I drink coffee for therapeutic purposes. I’m reducing my risk of oral cancer.”

This week, ACS epidemiologist Janet Hildebrand told WebMD.com that her team’s study of more than a million coffee drinkers clearly demonstrated, “Those who reported drinking at least four cups per day of caffeinated coffee incurred about half the risk of dying from mouth and throat cancers compared to people who did not drink caffeinated coffee daily or only drank it occasionally.” Hildebrand also noted that smokers and social drinkers enjoy the same 50 percent risk reduction as their smoke-and-alcohol-free friends. In the United States, oral cancers will cause approximately 7,000 deaths this year.

Although Hildebrand’s study did not identify the biological process that forges the link between coffee-drinking and reduced oral cancer risk, she said her results did not surprise her because coffee contains more than 100 potent bio-active chemicals. Agreeing that the results are not surprising, describing them instead as “fascinating” and “remarkable,” Los Angeles oral cancer specialist Joel Epstein emphasized emergence of “a significant theme” in several studies like Hildebrand’s that show coffee’s influence on a variety cancers.

Other encouraging studies

In August, 2012, Neal D. Freedman and researchers from the National Institutes of Health and The American Association of Retired People released extremely encouraging results of their 13-year study of three-cup-a-day coffee consumers. More than 400,000 people participated in the study that especially indicated regular coffee drinkers have at least a ten percent chance of living longer than their decaffeinated peers. Freedman’s study also provided strong evidence that people who drink at least three cups of caffeinated coffee every day have measurably lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, are less susceptible to basal cell carcinomas—the cells that evolve into skin cancer, and, ironically, are less prone to heart failure and stroke than their friends who abstain.

Shortly after Freedman released his study, Dr. Ronald Postuma and his team at McGill University released their study of coffee’s benefits for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Unlike other studies which treated coffee itself as the key variable rather than focusing on caffeine, Postuma’s team administered caffeine pills to their subjects. They started patients at 100 milligrams per day, graduating to 200 milligram doses after two weeks; 200 milligrams of caffeine are approximately the equivalent of three cups of coffee. All 61 trial participants reported moderate improvements in muscle movement and marked relief of muscle stiffness. Postuma’s study complements other studies that demonstrated coffee’s effectiveness in relieving symptoms of clinical depression and still others that documented coffee’s benefits for short term memory.

Currently in the throes of final exams, millions of college students confirm all the studies’ findings. Ashford University junior Megan Himes commented, “I think I speak for legions of girls just like me who feel thrilled that they can keep guzzling their megawatt beverages as physical and cognitive therapy. But are you sure that the newest studies did not mention Starbuck’s or Dunkin’ Donuts by name?”