Coffee drinkers, have another cup.
A recent study by the American Cancer Society found that coffee drinkers are less likely to die from oral/pharyngeal (mouth and throat) cancer.
According to the study, published last year in the American Journal of Epidemiology, people who drank more than 4 cups of caffeinated coffee daily were about half as likely to die from oral or pharyngeal cancer as those who drank coffee only occasionally or not at all.
Researchers analyzed coffee and tea consumption among people enrolled in the Cancer Prevention Study II, a study begun in 1982 by the American Cancer Society. Among 968,432 men and women who were cancer-free at enrollment, 868 died from oral/pharyngeal cancer during 26 years of follow-up. Drinking more than four cups of caffeinated coffee a day was linked to a 49% lower risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer death compared to drinking no coffee or only an occasional cup. No significant link was found for decaffeinated coffee, and no link at all for tea.
Previous studies have also suggested that coffee is associated with a reduced risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer due to antioxidants and other compounds that may help to protect against the development or progression of cancer.
The study’s authors say they aren’t encouraging people to drink four or more cups of coffee a day. But for those of you who love coffee, you may find some benefits.