Research Finds Coffee Effective Against Fatty Liver

Freshly ground coffee offers a more robust and nuanced flavor than pre-ground beans. (Glevalex/shutterstock)

Do you like drinking coffee? Research has found that coffee contains ingredients that can effectively reduce the risk of liver cancer. Among the different types of coffee, there is one that has the best effect on liver protection.

Coffee is Beneficial to the Liver, Including Instant Coffee

According to the World Health Organization, liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer deaths in 2020, with 830,000 deaths worldwide.

Fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, drug-related hepatitis, and viral hepatitis (hepatitis B and C) may all cause chronic hepatitis to develop into cirrhosis and eventually into liver cancer.

A number of studies have found that habitual coffee consumption can protect the liver and reduce the risk of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer by slowing down the damage caused by the above factors.

The European Journal of Cancer Prevention published a study which found that subjects who regularly drank coffee every day had a 34 percent lower risk of liver cancer in the next 6 to 22 years and a lower risk of cirrhosis in the next 14 to 19 years.

A survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) from 2001 to 2008 found that the more coffee the Americans consumed, the lower the risk of fatty liver disease they had.

Another Japanese study found that coffee consumption by people with hepatitis B or hepatitis C can reduce the risk of cirrhosis. The study noted that drinking one cup of coffee a day can reduce the risk of cirrhosis to 78 percent; drinking two cups of coffee reduces the risk to half; and drinking four cups reduces the risk to 25 percent.

A large-scale study in 2019 further pointed out that even instant coffee, which is considered to be of inferior quality, can help reduce the risk of liver cancer. The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, surveyed 470,000 people in the United Kingdom to look at the relationship between their coffee drinking habits and risk of cancer. The study followed these subjects for 7.5 years and found that coffee consumption helped significantly reduce the risk of liver cancer. And in terms of different varieties of coffee, both instant coffee and ground coffee were found to be effective in preventing liver cancer.

The Most Liver-Protective Coffee Type

Coffee’s ability to protect the liver is due to the fact that coffee contains a variety of antioxidants. For example, the chlorogenic acid in coffee can help remove free radicals and inflammatory factors from the body, thus improving inflammation in the body and protecting cellular tissues.

Staying up late, emotional turmoil, and stress that are commonly seen in modern life can lead to the stagnation of liver energy, fatty liver, and hepatitis. Dr. Lobsang Gyaltsen, well-known body-mind-spirit preventive medicine expert and director of Lobsang Preventive Medicare Clinic, pointed out that some constituents of coffee can increase endorphin secretion, which can bring pleasure and promote metabolism, thus reducing the risk of fatty liver.

To have the best liver-protective effect, it is important to drink the right type of coffee.

As a frequent coffee drinker, Dr. Lobsang recommends lightly roasted natural sun-dried coffee beans which are of good quality. The black coffee made from these beans is the best for liver health.

Lightly roasted coffee beans retain more antioxidants, such as chlorogenic acid. Deep roasting destroys the nutritional value of the coffee beans and causes the loss of chlorogenic acid.

“The selection of ingredients is also important,” Dr. Lobsang said. The sun drying process removes moisture from the beans and prevents them from becoming moldy. Coffee made from moldy coffee beans can damage the liver and kidneys.

Brewing coffee with hot water can force out more good ingredients, such as chlorogenic acid. Although the delicate flavor of iced drip coffee is popular, it is too cold and not suitable for women suffering from menstrual pain.

Coffee with sugar may cause obesity and aggravate liver inflammation. Lattes (which contains milk) is also not suitable for liver protection. Milk contains milk fat, and a study found that drinking one cup of latte everyday for one month caused people to gain a pound of weight and could cause fatty liver.

Although some studies have mentioned that as coffee consumption increases, the risk of liver cancer decreases, the effect still depends on the individual’s constitution.

Too much caffeine intake may overstimulate the body’s neurotransmission system, causing heart palpitations, excessive secretion of stomach acid, and insomnia. Dr. Lobsang said that he can drink one cup of light roast coffee a day, and drinking two cups a day would make him feel uncomfortable. A cup of dark roast coffee usually contains more caffeine than light roast coffee. Therefore, we should drink dark roast coffee in moderation, and pay attention to our body after drinking it, to see if the body experiences any discomfort.