Coffee is the world’s greatest beverage. It’s head and shoulders above the second-best drink, which is what, water maybe? Which is to say, coffee is good at staving off cancer in your body above the shoulders. A new study finds that regular coffee consumption is associated with a 17% decrease in incidence of head and neck cancer (HNC).
As reported by The Guardian, the study was published recently in the journal Cancer by the American Cancer Society. In it, researched analyzed 14 different studies with participants across Europe, North America, and Latin America, totaling over 9,500 with HNC and nearly 16,000 without.
When accounting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors—”age, sex, daily number of cigarettes smoked, alcohol consumption, and fruit and vegetable consumption,” etc—and breaking down participants into groups based upon daily coffee consumption levels, researchers found that those who drank more than four cups of coffee a day were associated with a 17% decreased in the likelihood of developing any type of HNC when compared to non-coffee drinkers. Oral cavity cancer specifically decreased by 30% and oropharyngeal cancer by 22%.
Meanwhile, drinking 3-4 cups was associated with a 41% decrease in the likelihood of developing hypopharyngeal cancer. Drinking decaf and having less than one (but more than zero) cups daily was associated with a 25% decrease in oral cavity cancer.
While only observational, these findings point to the notion that coffee has a positive effect on developing HNC and it’s not just due to caffeine. The exact relationship hasn’t been established to confirm if these findings are due to coffee consumption or other contributing factors—coffee drinkers may, for instance, be less likely to consume alcohol, which could be having a knock-on effect.
The signs point yet again to coffee being a boon for your health. So pour some down your gullet, because it’s good for your gullet.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
