Time for coffee and tea
Coffee consumption and the liver
There is a strong likelihood that liver damage caused by chronic inflammations may lead to cirrhosis. This condition may lead to the formation of fibrotic scar tissue and eventually to hepatocellular carcinoma. The main causes of cirrhosis of the liver are infection by hepatitis B or C and the abuse of alcoholic substances.
There is an inverse relationship between coffee consumption and serum alanine amino transferase and serum gamma-glutamyl transferase, the enzyme that is used to measure damage to the liver. Interestingly coffee liver damage has been found to inhibit the metabolism of coffee. This means that people who suffer from liver conditions are less likely to be consumers of coffee, as the consumption of the beverage may lead to adverse effects.
There have been many investigation carried out in Europe and Asia that have suggested an inverse relationship between the consumption of coffee and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Japanese people who consumed five cups of coffee per day were shown to have approximately a 76 percent lower chance of developing hepatocellular carcinoma than Japanese people who did not drink the beverage; this was especially emphasized in people who suffered from the hepatitis C condition
There is an inverse association between coffee consumption and the chance of developing cirrhosis, an investigation in America that looked into coffee consumption and the risk of mortality from cirrhosis in over one hundred and twenty thousand people found that the risks of dying from the condition decreased by twenty two percent for every cup of coffee consumed daily. These findings were repeated in a cohort study in Norway that demonstrated that the consumption of two cups of coffee per day resulted in a forty percent decrease in the chance of developing cirrhosis.
It is known that unfiltered coffee contains cafesol and kahweol, these compounds are known to increase the levels of aspartate transaminase. It is also thought caffeine and chlorogenic acids found in coffee are able to inhibit hepatic carcinogenesis; this has been demonstrated in animal models. Another well known beverage tea has been shown to have a positive impact on the liver: Tea Liver Cancer.