A New Health Perk for Coffee Drinkers?
The brew, in any form, might cut colon cancer risk; the more you drink, the lower the risk, study suggests
(HealthDay News) -- Drinking coffee may cut your risk of colon cancer by as much as 50 percent, a new study suggests.
The more you drink, the more you may reduce your risk -- and it makes no difference whether the coffee is regular or decaf, researchers said.
"The protective effect is not caffeine, per se, but probably a lot of other antioxidant ingredients in the coffee that are released in the roasting process," said senior researcher Dr. Gad Rennert. He is director of the Clalit National Israeli Cancer Control Center in Haifa, Israel.
These findings can't prove that coffee reduces the risk of colon cancer, only that coffee is associated with a reduced risk, Rennert said. However, the association appears strong, he added.
"For years we were not sure if coffee was dangerous. Today we have evidence that that's not the case, that actually coffee is good for you," he said.
