Drinking alcohol and coffee can reduce cancer risk? Is it true?

According to a recent report by the Physicists' Organization Network, a new study shows that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma than those who do not drink coffee. The study was conducted in the UK for 7 and a half years and studied the coffee drinking habits of 471,779 participants in the UK Biobank.

The word "coffee" comes from the Greek word for "strength and passion" and coffee has become part of modern life. Previous studies have shown that drinking coffee has a number of health benefits, possibly thanks to its high antioxidant content. Now, the team's overall findings suggest that drinking coffee can halve the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common liver cancer.

Study co-author Dr. Enna McMenamin, a researcher at the Centre for Public Health at Queen's University Belfast, said: "We found that people who drank instant coffee also had a lower risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma. We now need more research to determine the possible biological reasons behind this association."

In the new study, more than three-quarters of the subjects said they drank coffee, and compared with non-coffee drinkers, coffee drinkers were older, mostly male, less likely to come from poor areas and more educated. In addition, compared with non-coffee drinkers, coffee drinkers were more likely to be smokers, drink more alcohol, have higher cholesterol, and were less likely to have chronic diseases such as diabetes, cirrhosis, gallstones and peptic ulcers. After combining these factors, the researchers found that coffee drinkers were 50% less likely to develop HCC than non-coffee drinkers.

Lead author Quan Jindu, a postgraduate student at the Centre for Public Health at Queen's University Belfast, said: "People who have a habit of drinking coffee may find that maintaining this habit is good for their health because coffee contains antioxidants and caffeine, both of which may protect against cancer. However, drinking coffee is not as effective in preventing liver cancer as quitting smoking, reducing alcohol consumption or losing weight."

The findings are consistent with evidence from a World Cancer Research Fund report, which said there was probable evidence that coffee drinking reduced the risk of liver cancer. In addition, the researchers investigated other digestive tract cancers, such as gastrointestinal cancer, but found no link with coffee drinking.

Researchers from the University of Tokyo analyzed clinical data from 33 general hospitals across Japan from 2005 to 2016, involving more than 63,000 cancer patients and an equal number of control group respondents, to understand their average daily alcohol consumption and drinking duration.

After taking into account factors such as gender and occupation, the researchers found that those who do not drink at all have the lowest overall risk of cancer; the more alcohol they drink, the higher the overall risk of cancer. Even if you drink a small amount every day, if it reaches 10 years of drinking, the overall risk of cancer will increase by 5%. People who drink less than two glasses of wine a day have an increased risk of cancer regardless of how long they drink. In the study, a standard-sized glass of wine contained 23 grams of ethanol, which is equivalent to 180 milliliters of sake, 500 milliliters of beer or 60 milliliters of whiskey. Drinking for 10 years is equivalent to drinking one glass of wine a day for 10 consecutive years or two glasses of wine a day for 5 consecutive years.

Cancer is the leading cause of death among Japanese, researchers wrote in an article published on the website of Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society, on the 9th.

Drinking alcohol and coffee in moderation can effectively reduce the risk of cancer, but don't drink too much. More importantly, a good body is inseparable from good living habits.