Coffee Cuts Risk of Prostate Cancer

According to the researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health men who drank six or more cups per day of coffee had a 60 percent lower risk of developing the most lethal type of prostate cancer and a 20 percent lower risk of forming any type of prostate cancer compared to men who were not coffee drinkers.

Drinking one to three cups per day even was linked to a 30 percent lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer.

Harvard associate professor and senior author, Lorelei Mucci said, "Our study is the largest to date to examine whether coffee could lower the risk of lethal prostate cancer."

Researchers believe the lower risk could be linked to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits of coffee, the effects were the same whether the coffee was caffeinated or decaffeinated.

The study examined 47,911 men who reported on how much coffee they drank every four years from 1986 to 2008.

A total of 5,035 cases of prostate cancer were reported over the course of the study, including 642 fatal, or metastatic, cases.

Even after researchers allowed for other factors which typically boost risk, such as, smoking and failure to exercise, the lower risk seen in coffee drinkers remained.

There are 16 million survivors of prostate cancer worldwide, and one in six men in the United States will get prostate cancer during his lifetime.

Prostate cancer can be detected early with a blood test, a Gleason score is used to grade the cancer, the higher the score, the more likely the cancer is to spread.

Risk factors are typically linked to Western style high-fat diets, heredity, alcohol consumption, and exposure to chemicals.

Copyright AFP

The Truth About Coffee

Did you know that the U.S. imports over $4 billion in coffee each year and Americans drink 400 million cups per day.

Coffee places an enormous metabolic burden on the body and offers no nutritional value; no vitamins, no minerals, no enzymes.

Coffee can:

• increase your risk for stomach cancer and leukemia
• interfere with your body's ability to use water, and promote fluid loss
• raise your cholesterol
• send your insulin levels out of control
• contribute to rheumatoid arthritis and stroke
• damage your blood vessels
• increase your risk of heart disease
• interfere with your body's ability to use folate and vit. B12 and B6
• stimulate your adrenals, which may eventually lead to adrenal gland burn out
• raise the acidity level of your blood
• lead to insomnia
• raise your blood pressure and stress hormone levels
• deplete iron and calcium levels in women
• cause anxiety and a sensation of jitteriness and nervousness

Studies indicate over 300mg of caffeine/day, which is the equivalent of two or three eight ounce cups of coffee, may also increase your risk of:

• Miscarriage/spontaneous abortion
• Delivering a low birth weight baby
• Having a child with certain birth defects like clef palate

Four or more cups of coffee a day may increase your baby's risk of SIDS.

It's important to realize that any caffeine you ingest passes easily through the placenta to your unborn child. It is also transferred through breast milk, and stays in your body and the body of your unborn child or infant longer than average. Your unborn baby has no ability to detoxify the caffeine he or she is exposed to.

A better alternative is simply, pure water. Green tea is another option. source

Another article of interest: "Sodas-How Good Are They?" exposes caffeine