Coffee may protect liver Heavy alcohol intake puts a terrible stress on the liver. But coffee may offer some protection. Last week in the e-Alert "Java Pump" (6/14/06) I noted that the flow of coffee research dollars is at high tide these days. And a new coffee study In the Archives of Internal Medicine proves the point. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA, recorded coffee drinking habits of more than 125,000 subjects and then followed their health records for about 14 years on average. The cohort included heavy drinkers of alcohol, moderate drinkers and non-drinkers. Results showed that subjects who drank one cup of coffee every day reduced their risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by 20 percent compared to subjects who didn't drink coffee. Even more impressive: Four cups of java daily cut the risk by 80 percent. Unfortunately, coffee intake didn't give any protection at all against cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C, a blood-borne disease that affects more than 170 million people worldwide. You can find out more about liver cirrhosis and how to treat the disease without resorting to drugs in the e-Alert "Liv for the Moment" (3/1/06). http://www1.youreletters.com/t/376732/2735288/789928/0/ "Coffee May Protect Liver From Alcohol, Study Says" Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press, 6/12/06, ap.org | 
