Researchers have reported that drinking a cup of coffee may not be a bad idea for men's health, as consuming a lot of coffee can reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
The researchers analyzed data from 16 studies conducted worldwide, which included over a million men, about 58,000 of whom were diagnosed with prostate cancer. The research team was led by urologist Dr. "Kewei Wang" from China Medical University in Shenyang. According to their analysis, they could not establish a cause-and-effect relationship, but by comparing men with the lowest coffee consumption to others, those who drank a lot of coffee showed a 9% lower risk of developing prostate cancer. Additionally, drinking each additional cup of coffee daily was associated with a 1% reduction in prostate cancer risk, according to a study published online on January 11 in the BMJ Open journal.
It is noteworthy that further analysis showed that compared to those with the lowest coffee consumption, men who consumed large amounts of coffee had a 7% lower risk of localized prostate cancer and a 12% to 16% lower risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer, respectively. The highest amounts of coffee consumption ranged from two to nine or more cups per day, while the lowest amounts ranged from none to less than two cups a day.
The research group led by Dr. Wang wrote: "This study suggests that increased coffee consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer." They added: "There is still justification for further research to explore the underlying mechanisms and active compounds in coffee that lead to this, but if the association is proven to be causal, men may be encouraged to increase their coffee consumption to reduce their risk of prostate cancer."
The researchers also mentioned that their findings should be interpreted with caution, as uncontrolled or unmeasured factors in observational studies can affect the overall estimation of prostate cancer risk. However, there are still reasonable biological explanations for this association; Dr. Wang's team noted that coffee improves blood sugar metabolism, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and affects levels of sex hormones, all of which may influence the development of prostate cancer.
