Drinking Coffee is Good for the Liver

Is Drinking Coffee Good for the Liver?

Drinking coffee on a moderate basis is good for your liver. Coffee can help prevent alcohol, and non-alcohol, related liver diseases such as Cirrhosis. In studies performed, as regular coffee intake increased, liver disease progression decreased. This is likely due to coffee’s “antioxidant or anti-inflammatory properties”.^[1]

FACT: Coffee cannot reverse the effects of Cirrhosis, it can only protect against progression of the disease.

Does Drinking More Coffee Lower Your Risk of Liver Cirrhosis? Maybe. – Newsy

TIP: Coffee has a host of curative properties and a few negative effects. See more research on Coffee Consumption and Liver Disease or see the recent study “Coffee intake is associated with lower rates of liver disease progression in chronic hepatitis C” published in the journal Hepatology.

How Much Coffee is Enough?

Three cups of coffee, or 300mg per day, is the amount that correlated to beneficial effects during testing. Over consumption of unfiltered coffee has been connected to an increase in cholesterol. It can even increase the chance of heart disease if the person doesn’t have a mutated gene needed to break down caffeine.^[2]

Does Drinking Coffee Protect the Liver From Alcohol Damage?

Although previous studies had already suggested that coffee helps protect the liver from alcohol related damage, it hasn’t been proven until recently. With approximately 400,000 participants and nine studies all from subjects of different backgrounds, just two cups of coffee a day showed to reduce the risk of Alcohol Cirrhosis in the liver by 50%. Although one would assume that coffee would help defend against the different types of Cirrhosis, the study “Systematic review with meta-analysis: coffee consumption and the risk of cirrhosis” published on January 2016 only dealt with Alcohol Cirrhosis.^[3]^[4]

How Does Coffee Protect the Liver?

While the evidence exists to support the theory that coffee protects the liver, the reason isn’t specifically known at this point. Coffee is a complex mixture containing over a thousand different chemical compounds, and it is hard to say exactly which properties of coffee protect the liver. The author of the study above suggests that it has to do with coffee’s “antioxidant or anti-inflammatory properties”.

What is Cirrhosis?

Cirrhosis of the liver is the 12th leading cause of death in America. It is a deadly condition that people mostly get over-consuming alcohol, but is also seen in Hepatitis patients, patients with diabetes, or those dealing with obesity. Cirrhosis prevents the liver from replenishing its cells, and instead replaces the cells with scar tissue. Cirrhosis is a slow and grueling disease. The liver continues to function until scar tissue takes over the living cells. Once this happens, the liver fails and the patient is poisoned by their own toxins.^[5]

Save your Liver

Just because the studies show that coffee can help prevent liver diseases such as Cirrhosis, doesn’t mean you can go out and drink whatever your heart desires. Coffee cannot reverse the effects of Cirrhosis. The Liver is a vital to your survival, and has many necessary functions, so treat it well!