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6 cups of coffee protects against colon cancer
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Most people start their morning with an invigorating and aromatic drink – coffee. It is the most popular remedy for fighting drowsiness and maintaining productivity throughout the day.
And now coffee lovers have another reason to rejoice, because scientists have discovered another healing property of the drink.
If you want to protect yourself from colon cancer, drink six cups of coffee a day. This is the conclusion reached by experts from the US National Cancer Institute. The results of their research were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
They claim that drinking coffee daily reduces the risk of developing bowel cancer by 40%.
Bowel cancer kills 16,000 people every year. Many victims of this disease ignore the early symptoms of the disease and seek medical help only when the effects of cancer are already irreversible.
The main risk factors are considered to be the consumption of red meat, high-fat foods, and a sedentary lifestyle.
The medicinal properties of coffee were first reported several years ago, but the results of those studies were mixed, so experts from Rockville, Maryland, decided to study the properties of coffee in more detail.
The studies, which began in the mid-1990s, involved 490,000 volunteers, whose health was monitored by scientists for ten years.
Before the experiment began, participants filled out questionnaires in which they answered questions about their lifestyle, diet, and gastronomic preferences.
About one sixth of the volunteers drank between four and six cups of coffee a day.
As experts found out, in the following ten years the risk of developing colon cancer among coffee drinkers decreased by 15% compared to those who did not drink coffee at all. Those who increased their coffee consumption to six cups a day reduced the risk of cancer by 24%. The "guinea pigs" who drank decaffeinated coffee also had some protection against colon cancer, but to a much lesser extent. But tea lovers cannot be pleased - all those who drank tea did not receive any protective effect.
In any case, you should not take large doses of coffee, because the effect may be the opposite. Even if this aromatic drink can protect against colon cancer, it can also cause cardiovascular diseases. In addition, doctors advise pregnant women to limit their consumption of coffee drinks to 200 milligrams per day. Large amounts of coffee during pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage.
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