The American Cancer Society says people with prostates should get them checked every two years. Well, we last wrote about coffee’s effect on the gland in March of 2019, so it seems like we are due. And as luck would have it, new research shows that drinking coffee may lower the risk of developing prostate cancer.
We previously reported that coffee may help slow the spread of prostate cancer, but according to Yahoo, a new study finds that coffee may also have a preventative role in its formation. For the study, published recently in the journal BMJ Open, researchers from the Department of Urology at the Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University undertook a meta-analysis comprised of 16 previously published works examining coffee consumption and incidents of prostate cancer. The combined studies included over one million participants and nearly 58,000 incidents of prostate cancer.
Researchers found that, generally speaking, drinking coffee was associated with decreased instances of prostate cancer. And the more coffee the better. Per Yahoo, the meta-analysis “found that compared with the lowest intake, higher amounts were associated with a 7% lower risk of localized prostate cancer and about 15% lower risk for advanced cancer.”
Beyond the typical players in coffee-and-cancer-related studies—caffeine and chlorogenic acid—researchers posit two potential compounds found in coffee that may be responsible for the decrease: cafestol and kahweol. Both have been previously shown to have anti-carcinogenic properties, including an ability to suppress an enzyme that can cause tumors to form.
This association between coffee and reduced instances of prostate cancer is purely observational, meaning no causal link between the two has been established. But researchers are hopeful that these findings will spur on more research. Thanks, science.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
