Drinking more than 2.5 cups of coffee a day may significantly decrease your risk of colorectal cancer. 

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Photo by Artem & Olga Sapegin/Shutterstock.com.

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) looked at a group of 5,145 participants with colorectal cancer, and a further 4,097 participants without colorectal cancer as a control group. Those with colorectal cancer had all been diagnosed within the last six months.

Data on coffee consumption was collected by interview and food frequency questionnaires, which participants completed to report on how much coffee they drank, whether it was boiled (espresso), instant, decaffeinated or filtered. After they took into consideration other cancer risk factors, the team found that even just one to two cups of coffee a day reduced the risk of developing colorectal cancer by 26 per cent.

And when coffee consumption was increased to more than 2.5 cups of coffee a day, the risk decreased further, by up to 50 per cent. Although the levels of coffee’s beneficial compounds vary depending on the bean, roast and how it is brewed, the results showed that it didn’t matter how the coffee was taken so that means even instant coffee has a beneficial effect.

The results also looked at whether the coffee was taken decaf or fully caffeinated. “We were somewhat surprised to see that caffeine did not seem to matter,” commented senior author of the study Stephen Gruber. “This indicates that caffeine alone is not responsible for coffee’s protective properties. We need additional research before advocating for coffee consumption as a preventive measure. That being said, there are few health risks to coffee consumption, I would encourage coffee lovers to revel in the strong possibility that their daily mug may lower their risk of colorectal cancer.”

The study is available online in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.