a large new study has found.
Researchers examined the coffee-drinking habits of 27,793 people who
filled out diet questionnaires in a large national health study from
1999 to 2010.
The scientists also tracked blood levels of four enzymes that indicate
liver function.
The study is in thejournal Hepatology.
More than 14,000 of the subjects drank coffee.
After controlling for age, sex, race, education, smoking, alcohol
consumption and other factors, the researchers found that compared
with people who drank no coffee, those who drank three cups a day were
about 25 per cent less likely to have abnormal liver enzyme levels.
Among the more than 2,000 who drank only decaffeinated coffee, the
results were similar.
The reason for the effect is unclear.
"There are more than a thousand compounds in coffee," said the lead
author, Dr. Qian Xiao, a cancer prevention fellow at the National
Cancer Institute.
"There are a few candidates, but I don't know which is responsible."
Should those who do not drink coffee start doing so?
"This is an observational study and not designed to determine cause
and effect," Xiao said.
"So based on this study, I wouldn't make any recommendations. But it
is reassurance that coffee and decaf are not harmful to liver
function."
--New York Times
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