6 ms·

Drinking coffee may cut risk of chronic liver disease, study suggests

22 points by digital55 5y ago

meristohm 5y ago
> The team said the magnitude of the effect increased with the amount of coffee consumed, up to about three to four cups a day, “beyond which further increases in consumption provided no additional benefit”. > A reduction in risk was also found when instant, decaffeinated and ground coffee were considered separately – although the latter linked to the largest effect. The article also notes that the information was gathered with a one-time questionnaire, and that diet and exercise are important factors (of course). I cut alcohol more than a year ago, and go on and off with coffee (The hardest relative luxury for me to let go, after chocolate, which I do go without unless someone offers). I’m curious what the inflection point is with coffee; how little confers benefit, below which are diminishing returns? Or is it linear up to the 3-4 cup cutoff?
- sjg007 5y ago
  The benefits stop when you start shaking and can't sleep.
forbiddenvoid 5y ago
The actual paper is here: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-10991-7 https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s... I'm super skeptical about these types of studies in general. 'Wonder food' studies always end up being a little too good to be true. The discussion section of the paper lists an awful lot of caveats to the methodology of data collection and removal of confounding factors.
- xupybd 5y ago
  Yes I often suspect "eating x luxury leads to y health benefit" is a conflation of diet and wealth. Being wealthy leads to more luxury food choices and better access to health care.
morty_s 5y ago
Is it possible that the appetite-suppressing effects of coffee are at play here? I’ve read about the general health benefits of reducing calories and I wonder how big a factor that is in caffeine/coffee studies.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  This. For many people including me, coffee consumption throughout the day reduces the appetite a lot. Two cups of coffee and my food consumption might be 25 per cent lower. That said, this effect may be balanced out by all the people who just must have a cake with their coffee and who sweeten their coffee with sugar. Also, none of the booze lovers I know drink coffee much. As if the beverages were somehow incompatible. This will show on the liver side as well.
  - foobiekr 5y ago
    Cocaine has a similar appetite suppressant effect. I wonder if anyone has looked at the long term health of models (where use is, apparently, common) to see if there are benefits.
    - inglor_cz 5y ago
      Can't say I am eager to try that one out, but yeah, people who do coke are usually slender. That said, when they do coke, they do at least half chalk. Pure cocaine is not easy to buy on the other side of the Atlantic.
syntaxstic 5y ago
Have you ever tried to quit cold turkey? It was brutal for me. How could something that hard to stop be good for you?
- _se 5y ago
  If you work out frequently, stopping that cold turkey is brutal also. Working out is unquestionably good for you. How hard it is to stop has nothing at all to do with how good it is for you. No comment on if it's good or not, but your comment has no bearing.
- yetihehe 5y ago
  What has "hard to stop" common with "bad for you"?
- sheepdestroyer 5y ago
  It's a counter exemple extremely overused and a bit tongue in cheek but : try to see how long you can go without breathing, then ask yourself the same question again.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  I tried to quit HN cold turkey once. I held out for like 16 hours. Won't even entertain the thought with tea or coffee.
dcolkitt 5y ago
Coffee is a fruit. Fruit and vegetable consumption is unquestionably good for your health. I don't know why people find it so shocking that drinking coffee would be healthy.
- Mediterraneo10 5y ago
  Experts generally regard fruit consumption as beneficial due to the fiber, not so much the rest of it, and squeezing the fruit for its juice (or drying it) is viewed as a risk of excessive sugar intake. In any event, in the case of coffee its consumption bears little resemblance to what would ordinarily be regarded as a fruit.
  - sheepdestroyer 5y ago
    Fruits are full of phytochemicals like polyphenols that have shown interesting health effects. Coffee has quite a high polyphenols content too.
    - 1_player 5y ago
      Phytochemicals literally just means "chemicals from a plant", which include the infamous antioxidants as well as toxins, hormone disruptors, GABA agonists and other poisons in general. Some fruits have some compounds, along thousands of unspecified others, which seem to have a beneficial effect, most often in-vitro. Regarding polyphenols, there is no hard, concrete evidence that any have actual positive health benefits. One thing is for sure, the marketing surrounding these "5 a day to be healthy" is extremely strong and widespread.
  - dcolkitt 5y ago
    > Experts generally regard fruit consumption as beneficial due to the fiber, This is an outdated theory, that is no longer supported by the current state of the research. The health benefits of fruits and vegetables is primarily driven by phytochemical, not fibers.[1] [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3650511/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3650511/
- 5y ago
bsd44 5y ago
Which coffee "research" is this so far in the last year? One time it's bad for you, then it's good for you. Then it's bad for you again, then it's good for you.

22 points by digital55 5y ago

> The team said the magnitude of the effect increased with the amount of coffee consumed, up to about three to four cups a day, “beyond which further increases in consumption provided no additional benefit”. > A reduction in risk was also found when instant, decaffeinated and ground coffee were considered separately – although the latter linked to the largest effect. The article also notes that the information was gathered with a one-time questionnaire, and that diet and exercise are important factors (of course). I cut alcohol more than a year ago, and go on and off with coffee (The hardest relative luxury for me to let go, after chocolate, which I do go without unless someone offers). I’m curious what the inflection point is with coffee; how little confers benefit, below which are diminishing returns? Or is it linear up to the 3-4 cup cutoff?

sjg007 5y ago
The benefits stop when you start shaking and can't sleep.

forbiddenvoid 5y ago

The actual paper is here: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-10991-7 https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s... I'm super skeptical about these types of studies in general. 'Wonder food' studies always end up being a little too good to be true. The discussion section of the paper lists an awful lot of caveats to the methodology of data collection and removal of confounding factors.

xupybd 5y ago
Yes I often suspect "eating x luxury leads to y health benefit" is a conflation of diet and wealth. Being wealthy leads to more luxury food choices and better access to health care.

morty_s 5y ago

Is it possible that the appetite-suppressing effects of coffee are at play here? I’ve read about the general health benefits of reducing calories and I wonder how big a factor that is in caffeine/coffee studies.

inglor_cz 5y ago
This. For many people including me, coffee consumption throughout the day reduces the appetite a lot. Two cups of coffee and my food consumption might be 25 per cent lower. That said, this effect may be balanced out by all the people who just must have a cake with their coffee and who sweeten their coffee with sugar. Also, none of the booze lovers I know drink coffee much. As if the beverages were somehow incompatible. This will show on the liver side as well.
- foobiekr 5y ago
  Cocaine has a similar appetite suppressant effect. I wonder if anyone has looked at the long term health of models (where use is, apparently, common) to see if there are benefits.
  - inglor_cz 5y ago
    Can't say I am eager to try that one out, but yeah, people who do coke are usually slender. That said, when they do coke, they do at least half chalk. Pure cocaine is not easy to buy on the other side of the Atlantic.

syntaxstic 5y ago

Have you ever tried to quit cold turkey? It was brutal for me. How could something that hard to stop be good for you?

_se 5y ago
If you work out frequently, stopping that cold turkey is brutal also. Working out is unquestionably good for you. How hard it is to stop has nothing at all to do with how good it is for you. No comment on if it's good or not, but your comment has no bearing.
yetihehe 5y ago
What has "hard to stop" common with "bad for you"?
sheepdestroyer 5y ago
It's a counter exemple extremely overused and a bit tongue in cheek but : try to see how long you can go without breathing, then ask yourself the same question again.
inglor_cz 5y ago
I tried to quit HN cold turkey once. I held out for like 16 hours. Won't even entertain the thought with tea or coffee.

dcolkitt 5y ago

Coffee is a fruit. Fruit and vegetable consumption is unquestionably good for your health. I don't know why people find it so shocking that drinking coffee would be healthy.

Mediterraneo10 5y ago
Experts generally regard fruit consumption as beneficial due to the fiber, not so much the rest of it, and squeezing the fruit for its juice (or drying it) is viewed as a risk of excessive sugar intake. In any event, in the case of coffee its consumption bears little resemblance to what would ordinarily be regarded as a fruit.
- sheepdestroyer 5y ago
  Fruits are full of phytochemicals like polyphenols that have shown interesting health effects. Coffee has quite a high polyphenols content too.
  - 1_player 5y ago
    Phytochemicals literally just means "chemicals from a plant", which include the infamous antioxidants as well as toxins, hormone disruptors, GABA agonists and other poisons in general. Some fruits have some compounds, along thousands of unspecified others, which seem to have a beneficial effect, most often in-vitro. Regarding polyphenols, there is no hard, concrete evidence that any have actual positive health benefits. One thing is for sure, the marketing surrounding these "5 a day to be healthy" is extremely strong and widespread.
- dcolkitt 5y ago
  > Experts generally regard fruit consumption as beneficial due to the fiber, This is an outdated theory, that is no longer supported by the current state of the research. The health benefits of fruits and vegetables is primarily driven by phytochemical, not fibers.[1] [1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3650511/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3650511/
5y ago

bsd44 5y ago

Which coffee "research" is this so far in the last year? One time it's bad for you, then it's good for you. Then it's bad for you again, then it's good for you.