Should you pour another black coffee for your liver?



Protect your liver. It is an extraordinary regenerative organ of which you have only one. You need it to be working well.

  • Some research is suggesting that for seniors, moderate coffee intake may improve elasticity of arteries which can help reduce the possibility of future cardiovascular events.
  • There is further research to indicate that heavier coffee drinking may help the liver clean up cirrhosis that is not too extreme and also prevent certain types of cancers.
  • But there are warnings of significant risk for some patients that must be weighed against likely benefits.

by Micheal John | Editor and  Sharon Santiago,  Staff Writer, Feminine-Perspective Magazine

Please read: If you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (a.k.a. GERD); a hiatal hernia; hypertensive heart disease, any condition that makes you prone to arrhythmia or tachycardia or if your doctor has advised you not to consume caffeinated beverages like coffee for any reason, follow your doctor’s instructions and discuss the following findings with your doctor before making changes to your diet. You might ask your doctor about drinking teaFPM.news is not offering health advise. Readers should consult with their personal physician or health-care provider for all health related matters.

Julius Schorzman Small cup of coffeePhoto credit: Julius Schorzman Cropping & Art: Rosa Yamamoto, FPM.news

At what point are the risks outweighed by the benefits of heavy coffee consumption for perceived benefits? They are not until you see your doctor.

Coffee is being discussed as a contributor to a healthy liver.

A Reuters article by Lisa Rapaport pointed to a study done in England to imply that ‘drinking more coffee may undo liver damage from booze’.

“Cirrhosis is potentially fatal and there is no cure as such,” said lead study author Dr. Oliver Kennedy of Southampton University in the U.K., cites the article.

Warning: “This could be an important finding for patients at risk of cirrhosis to help to improve their health outcomes. However, we now need robust clinical trials to investigate the wider benefits and harms of coffee so that doctors can make specific recommendations to patients, warns Dr. Kennedy.”


Feminine-Perspective:

The liver, your only regenerative organ, can recover and regenerate on its own if you remove the antagonist(s); adopt a healthy diet  (like broccoli, carrots, and green leafy vegetables especially); and begin a healthy lifestyle.

Hence drinking extra coffee is not indicated. It may not be contra-indicated but it is not indicated. See your doctor. What is indicated is: stop drinking alcoholic beverages; stop smoking and end all activities that introduce antagonists to the liver. Begin a healthy diet. Do at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. Lose weight. Treat any other diseases you may have like high blood pressure and diabetes.

Some of the worst antagonists to the liver are alcoholic beverages, acetaminophen, paracetamol, proton pump inhibitors, toxins inhaled from certain paint and aggressive cleaners, bad diet (eating junk), obesity, out-of-control diabetes and high cholesterol. 


Liver will repair fully after 30 days if no complications arise

The liver is a unique organ. It is the only organ in the body that is able to regenerate. With most organs, such as the heart, the damaged tissue is replaced with scar, like on the skin. The liver, however, is able to replace damaged tissue with new cells.

If up to 50 to 60 percent of the liver cells may be killed within three to four days in an extreme case like a Tylenol overdose, the liver will repair completely after 30 days if no complications arise.

Complications of liver disease occur when regeneration is either incomplete or prevented by progressive development of scar tissue within the liver. This occurs when the damaging agent such as a virus, a drug, alcohol, etc., continues to attack the liver and prevents complete regeneration. Once scar tissue has developed it is very difficult to reverse that process.

Severe scarring of the liver is the condition known as cirrhosis. The development of cirrhosis indicates late stage liver disease and is usually followed by the onset of complications.

Source: University of Iowa

If you have a family history of pancreatic or liver cancer…

Another report published by the University of Southampton suggests, “Drinking more coffee could reduce liver cancer risk.”

Southampton University researchers (with University of Edinburgh scientists) say they have found that the more coffee consumed the greater the protection against Hepato Cellular Cancer (HCC).

Drinking  an additional cup of caffeinated coffee a day but not exceeding five cups, was associated with a 20 per cent reduction in the risk of developing HCC, two cups more with a 35 per cent reduction, and up to five cups with a halving of the risk.

HCC is the second leading cause of cancer death globally because of its poor prognosis and high frequency, especially in China and Southeast Asia. It mostly develops in people who are already suffering from chronic liver disease. It is estimated that, by 2030, the number of new cases annually will have risen by about 50 per cent to more than 1.2 million.

“Molecules found in coffee possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic and other beneficial properties which scientists believe may explain the lower rates of chronic liver disease and liver cancer experienced by coffee-drinkers,” noted lead author Dr Oliver Kennedy, of the University of Southampton.

Results: We found 18 cohorts, involving 2 272 642 participants and 2905 cases, and 8 case–control studies, involving 1825 cases and 4652 controls. An extra two cups per day of coffee was associated with a 35% reduction in the risk of HCC (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.72). The inverse association was weaker for cohorts (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.77), which were generally of higher quality than case–control studies (RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.69). There was evidence that the association was not significantly altered by stage of liver disease or the presence/absence of high alcohol consumption, high body mass index, type 2 diabetes mellitus, smoking, or hepatitis B and C viruses. An extra two cups of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee (2 and 3 cohort studies, respectively) were associated with reductions of 27% (RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.85) and 14% (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.00) in the risk of HCC.


However, due to a lack of randomised controlled trials, potential publication bias and there being no accepted definition of coffee, the quality of evidence under the GRADE criteria was ‘very low’.


 

Moderate coffee consumption improves aortic distensibility in hypertensive elderly individuals. – European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

Ed Note: About the European Society of Cardiology 
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 62,000 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe. If you wish, read the full report from the European Society of Cardiology.

The ESC reported in August 2010  “that a detailed study conducted by a team from the University of Athens on the Aegean island of Ikaria has demonstrated that moderate consumption of coffee by hypertensive elderly individuals can lead to improvements in aortic distensibility. Distensibility is a measure of the elasticity of arteries, and low levels have long been recognised as an indicator of atherosclerosis and a reliable predictor of future cardiovascular events. By increasing the load on the heart, hypertension leads to vascular changes and neuro-hormonal activation which causes increases in vascular stiffness and reduced elasticity.”

The report continues to say that, “Between June and October 2009, researchers from the University of Athens conducted a health and nutrition survey using a target group of 343 men and 330 women aged between 65 and 100 – all of whom were long-term residents of Ikaria. The island was selected because of its population’s high life expectancy, with an above-average proportion of residents over 90 years of age. Consideration was given to a wide range of socio-demographic, bio-clinical, lifestyle and dietary characteristics related to cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, obesity and anthropometric indices. Physical activity status and biochemical parameters related to cardiovascular risk were also evaluated.”

Doctor Christina Chrysohoou, the study coordinator, noted, “As far as the effect of coffee on hypertension is concerned, the pressor response to caffeine seems to be more pronounced in hypertensive or hypertension-prone subjects than in normo-tensive ones. For this reason, our study became focused on a sub-group of some 235 hypertensive subjects, and we measured the impact of daily coffee consumption using echocardiographic indices of aortic distensibility.”

Younger Patients may not enjoy these benefits.

FPM.news research turns up some additional information and some serious warnings for hypertensive heart disease patients aged 18 to 45 about heavy coffee drinking (more than four cups per day).

A study presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in August 2015 followed 1,201 people (aged 18 to 45) who had untreated stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure between 140 mmHg and 159 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure between 90 mmHg and 99 mmHg).

After collecting data for 12.5 years, the researchers concluded that heavy coffee drinkers (more than four cups per day) were 4.3 three times more likely to have a cardiovascular event and moderate drinkers (one to three cups per day) were almost three times more likely.

They also found that the risk of pre-diabetes increased by 100% in heavy coffee drinkers.

A novel explanation from a coffee company of what happens when you drink a cup of coffee.

A novel explanation of what happens when you drink a cup of coffee. Photo Credit: MapCoffee.com.au A novel explanation of what happens when you drink a cup of coffee. Photo Credit: MapCoffee.com.au