Boiled coffee for breast?
Thursday June 17th, 2010
Drinking large amounts of boiled coffee may help protect elderly women against breast cancer, researchers reported last night.
Boiled coffee is drunk in Scandinavia and a Swedish study has examined its effects on nearly 64,000 people.
The
research found that coffee drinkers, of any kind, over the age of 55 enjoyed
a reduced risk of developing breast cancer of about 40 per cent. The numbers
of cases were especially low among drinkers of traditional boiled coffee.
But today researcher Lena Nilsson, of Umeå University, warned the link with boiled coffee was weak - because of the small numbers involved.
Out of 1,369 women of all ages who drank four or more cups of boiled coffee a day, just 14 developed breast cancer - about half the risk faced by women who did not drink the coffee.
Ms Nilsson said the findings showed "potential relevance" of taking into account how coffee is brewed in studying its link with cancer.
She said in her opinion the "core result" of the study was the overall link between coffee drinking and reduced risk of breast cancer.
The study warned of a possible increase in risk among young women drinkers of filtered coffee.
And there were also signs of an increase in rates of cancer among some men.
The researchers say boiled coffee contains 80 times the levels of fatty acids from coffee than is found in filtered coffee. Laboratory studies have suggested these fatty acids might fight cancer.
Cancer Causes & Control, doi: 10.1007/s10552-010-9582-x.
Tags: Cancer | Diet & Food | Europe | Women’s Health & Gynaecology
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