Did you ever know that coffee is good for the liver? If this information is completely new to you, surprising you in no small part, know that it is perfectly normal. We first, who know about coffee, reacted exactly this way when we discovered it, and the reason for this general stupor is perfectly understandable.
As much as drinking at least one cup a day is an essential routine, coffee is not exactly in the top five of healthy drinks, to the point that it is often accused of causing or aggravating numerous ailments, many of which are related to the digestive system.
On the other hand, it is no secret that the moment you suffer from gastritis or oesophagitis, the first thing your doctor will prohibit you from taking is your beloved coffee. But so, what: for your health you do this and more, right? What if we told you that drinking coffee could improve it instead?
According to some studies, there seems to be a positive correlation between liver health and coffee. So let’s find out together how much truth there is in this research, starting with a simple question: is drinking coffee really good for your liver?
What is the function of the liver and what can damage it
The liver performs a scavenger function within the body. When there are too many toxins to eliminate, however, it struggles to do its job, which is why the body tends to become intoxicated. If the liver does not cleanse it as it should, toxic substances remain in the circulation, becoming a threat to the body.
But what is bad for the liver? What are the factors that cause fatty liver?
Generally, liver disease is caused by an incorrect lifestyle and a diet rich in fat and sugar. Sometimes fatty liver develops alongside conditions such as obesity, diabetes or hypertriglyceridemia.
Let’s take a look at the most frequent causes of liver problems:
- lifestyle;
- alcohol consumption;
- diet rich in fatty foods and sugar;
- calorie-laden foods;
- overweight and obesity;
- meals that are too large;
- cooking too long;
- overcooked and ‘toasted’ foods;
- type 2 diabetes;
- hypertriglyceridemia;
- weight loss due to fasting or abrupt diets;
- malnutrition.
These listed represent the most common factors capable of triggering liver disease. Unfortunately, there are cases of fatty liver still being analysed, as they do not present any of these conditions. Patients with these conditions are usually of average age and overweight.
In order to prevent liver fatigue, there are no drug therapies available, as it is mainly nutrition and bad habits that need to be addressed. Here, then, are a few small tips to strengthen the liver and stimulate its metabolic action:
- Limit your intake of fat and high-calorie foods (cold meats, cheese, dairy products);
- Avoid simple sugars and refined foods (sweets, chocolate, rice and refined flours);
- Do not drink fruit juices, fizzy drinks and drinks rich in sugar;
- Do not abuse alcohol consumption;
- Consume yoghurt and probiotics, as well as vegetables and fresh fruit.
The risk of adopting incorrect habits is precisely that of developing the aforementioned ‘fatty liver’, a disease that causes severe inflammation, damaging the liver cells and causing painful scarring. Here are the symptoms of fatty liver:
- weakness;
- increased transaminases;
- altered consistency and colour of urine (cholaluria);
- confusion;
- localised pain in the upper and right abdomen;
- pain in the flank;
- excessive cholesterol in the blood;
- excessive increase in triglycerides in the bloodstream;
- weight loss.
Until recently, it was thought that habitual coffee drinking could cause/aggravate such symptoms, but several studies have shown that this is not the case at all.
Coffee and liver: the positive combination you don’t expect
Although coffee consumption was demonised until a few years ago, to date, much scientific evidence has shown that there is no negative correlation of the drink with health.
From 1991 to 2016, caffeine was even on the WHO list of carcinogens to humans. In fact, it was believed that coffee was responsible for certain types of cancer and that there was a close link between coffee and liver disease.
In particular, coffee was believed to be one of the culprits of liver cirrhosis, a condition that is difficult to treat and can increase the development of liver tumours. Recently, however, the AIRC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) has pointed out that there is no scientific evidence of a link between cancer and coffee.
On the contrary, it seems that coffee consumption provides a good number of antioxidants, if limited and controlled. Furthermore, the Superior Institute of Health published an article on coffee’s ability to protect the body against the onset of liver cirrhosis.
Alongside these studies, however, it is worth mentioning a rather recent one, conducted by the renowned British universities of Southampton and Edinburgh. It was Professor Paul Roderick of the University of Southampton who published the incredible results in the prestigious medical journal BMC Public Health. But what exactly did these astounding results reveal?
Well, it all started with an experiment several years ago, in which 494,585 people, aged between 40 and 69, participated. The group was then divided into two smaller subgroups, consisting of:
- 384,818 people who habitually drank coffee;
- 109,767 people who had never drunk coffee.
For about 11 years, the researchers monitored the liver health of all participants in the experiment and, at the end of this period, recorded 3600 cases of chronic liver disease, including 301 deaths, and 1839 cases of fatty liver.
What surprised the scientists, however, was that although they considered classic factors such as body mass index, alcohol consumption and smoking, they found that those who used to drink coffee had a 20% lower risk of both developing chronic liver disease and suffering from fatty liver syndrome. And, as for the mortality rate caused by these chronic diseases, coffee drinkers had a 49% lower risk.
At this point, you might legitimately wonder how many cups of coffee these lucky individuals used to consume per day. Well, the study provided an answer to this fundamental question as well, showing that it is possible to obtain the aforementioned benefits when consuming about 3 to 4 cups of coffee daily. Beyond this threshold, in fact, no additional benefit was found.
Is coffee good for the liver? Conclusions
Like any other scientific research, the one we have just outlined has some inevitable ‘flaws’. One of them concerns the fact that the habits of the participants in the study refer to the period before the study itself, which means that any variations that arose during the course of the experiment were not taken into account.
In addition to this, it should also be specified that those who participated were mostly white people from a generally high socio-economic background, which means that the results obtained could be different in the case of people from other countries and from a poorer background.
All this to say that the study is by no means over, as plans are being made to extend it to other people precisely to validate (or disprove?) the conclusions reached. That said, it is nevertheless interesting to report the statements of Dr Oliver Kennedy, the lead author of this study, who said: ‘Coffee is widely accessible and the benefits we see from our study could mean that it could offer a potential preventive treatment for chronic liver disease. This would be particularly valuable in countries with lower income and worse access to health care and where the burden of chronic liver disease is higher’.
And if this were indeed the case, it would mean that your favourite drink not only tastes good but could even save lives! A piece of news that would completely overturn the opinions of those who have always ‘shunned’ and ostracised coffee.
Notwithstanding, we who know about coffee, are the first to advise you to take care of your liver the right way, by adopting the healthy habits we have previously suggested. At the same time, however, we also suggest that you enjoy this drink with the utmost serenity, perhaps with the help of a good coffee machine.
After all, it is no secret that if you want to drink good coffee, you should do so with the right machine. That is why we invite you to discover the right coffee machine for you, giving you a relaxing moment of pleasure while improving your liver health!