A research team from the National Cancer Institute found out that coffee, whether regular of decaffeinated, could prove to be beneficial to the health of a person's liver.
The team's findings, published in the Hepatology journal, reveal that higher consumption of coffee was related to lower levels of abnormalities found in the enzymes of the liver, regardless of how much caffeine that coffee contains.
The results suggest that certain chemical compounds found within coffee, but not caffeine, have the ability to provide the liver with protection from abnormalities.
The consumption of coffee in the United States is very significant, with over half of the entire American population over 18 years old drinking three cups of coffee daily on average, according to the National Coffee Association on a report published in 2010.
Additionally, the International Coffee Association reported that since the 1980s, the consumption of coffee has increased by one percent yearly, a growth rate that has doubled to two percent in recent years.
Previous research reports found that coffee is beneficial for decreasing the risk of diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, liver cancer and cirrhosis.
"Prior research found that drinking coffee may have a possible protective effect on the liver. However, the evidence is not clear if that benefit may extend to decaffeinated coffee," explained Qian Xiao, the lead researcher for the study.
For the study, the team of scientists used data acquired from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which had a total subject population of 27,793 respondents, all of ages 20 years old or higher.
The respondents provided their respective usual intake amounts of coffee over a period of 24 hours. The research team then took measurements for several signs of the health of the person's liver, which includes levels of aminotransferase AST, aminotransferase ALT, gamma glutamyl transaminase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP).
The researchers discovered that respondents that drank three cups of coffee or more daily had lower amounts of the enzymes being tested for, compared to the respondents that were not drinking any amount of coffee at all.
In addition, the researchers found lower amounts of the enzymes on respondents that were drinking decaffeinated coffee.
Xiao said that the findings link the drinking of coffee to lower amounts of the abnormal liver enzymes. However, further research is required to identify the cause, as it is clear that it is not because of the caffeine.
"There have been several studies which have intimated that drinking coffee may be protective to the liver and even prevent the development of liver cancer," said David Bernstein, hepatology division chief at the North Shore University Hospital.
Bernstein, however, said that proving that coffee provides protection to the liver could be difficult.
