By James Limbach and Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs. com
June 23, 2010
Coffee and tea drinkers may not need to worry about indulging. A pair of studies suggests there may be some health benefits.
In the first study, published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association, evidence was found linking high and moderate consumption of tea and moderate coffee consumption with reduced heart disease.
Researchers in The Netherlands found:
- Drinking more than six cups of tea per day was associated with a 36 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to those who drank less than one cup of tea per day.
- Drinking three to six cups of tea per day was associated with a 45 percent reduced risk of death from heart disease, compared to consumption of less than one cup per day.
And for coffee they found:
- Coffee drinkers with a modest intake, two to four cups per day, had a 20 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to those drinking less than two cups or more than four cups.
- Although not considered significant, moderate coffee consumption slightly reduced the risk of heart disease death and deaths from all causes.
Researchers also found that neither coffee nor tea consumption affected stroke risk.
Coffe and cancer
Data on the effects of coffee on cancer risk have been mixed. However, results of study published online first in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, add to the brewing evidence that drinking coffee protects against cancer located in the head and neck.
Using information from a pooled-analysis of nine studies collected by the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium, participants who were regular coffee drinkers -- that is -- those who drank an estimated four or more cups a day, compared with those who were non-drinkers, had a 39 percent decreased risk of oral cavity and pharynx cancers combined.
Data on decaffeinated coffee was too sparse for detailed analysis, but indicated no increased risk. Tea intake was not associated with head and neck cancer risk. The association is more reliable among those who are frequent, regular coffee drinkers, consuming more than four cups of coffee a day.
Since coffee is so widely used and there is a relatively high incidence and low survival rate of these forms of cancers, our results have important public health implications that need to be further addressed," said lead researcher Mia Hashibe, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of family and preventive medicine at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and a Huntsman Cancer Institute investigator. "What makes our results so unique is that we had a very large sample size, and since we combined data across many studies, we had more statistical power to detect associations between cancer and coffee."
