Coffee times

Hi, Steemians.

Most people like to drink one or two cups of coffee per day, either for our daily needs or simply to taste one of the best flavors available.

But have you ever talked about the healing properties against cancer in coffee?

In recent years, a series of studies have been published that suggest a protective effect of coffee against the risk of prostate cancer. Now, a team of researchers from Italy, coffee country par excellence, brings to light a new study that seems to confirm this theory.

The scientists recruited about 7,000 men from Molise, a region of Italy, and analyzed their customs and health status for four years. "We studied their habits in terms of coffee consumption, and then we compared them with the incidence of prostate cancer, and we observed a 53% reduction in risk for those who drank more than three cups a day," the researcher explains.

Chance? It is true that many factors that do not really have a cause-and-effect relationship can appear correlated when applying a statistical analysis. Therefore, the authors of the work, published in the International Journal of Cancer, did an extra test that consisted of applying coffee extracts in cells affected by prostate cancer.

In particular, they tested extracts containing caffeine with other decaffeinated ones, and found that only the former significantly reduced the proliferation of cancer cells, as well as their ability to metastasize. An effect that was not manifested with decaffeinated coffee. "These observations allow us to affirm that the beneficial effect observed in the participants is probably due to caffeine and not to other substances in coffee," says Maria Benedetta, another of the researchers.

Maybe it does not serve any coffee

Another factor to take into account is the profile of the chosen population, something not banal. "The study has been conducted with inhabitants of central Italy, and Italians are very rigorous when it comes to preparing coffee: high pressure, high water temperature and without filters," clarifies Licia Lacoviello, one of the authors. "This method, different from those that are followed in other parts of the world, could lead to a higher concentration of bioactive substances and it will be very interesting to explore this aspect." It is not a specific issue of a specific food, but also of the way in which that this is elaborated. "