According to the Huffington Post, Americans drink over 400 million cups of coffee per day. Yup, that’s 400,000,000 per day!
About 320 million people live in the United States currently, so that means everybody is drinking at least one cup of coffee every day. But some people –hard working medical professionals, frantic writers on a deadline, and sleep deprived college students–drink more than just one cup a day.
Time and time again we hear how it’s probably not good for you to drink so much coffee in a day. Caffeine Informer states that over-consumption of caffeine could lead to insomnia, indigestion, incontinence, and the list goes on. However, is it possible for coffee to have some possible positive effects on health?
The answer appears to be yes, or rather, a very favorable maybe.
Image Source: Zing Images
A recent study by Merritt et al. suggests that consumption of at least four whopping cups of coffee a day is inversely related to endometrial cancer risk. To put it a bit more clearly, it seems that drinking a lot of coffee everyday could lead to a lower risk of endometrial cancer later on in life.
American Cancer Society states that endometrial cancer is cancer that starts in the endometrium–the inner linings of the uterus. In one year, about 58,000 women are diagnosed with endometrial cancer, and more than 10,000 will pass away due to it. In fact, about 1 in 37 women will develop endometrial cancer in their lifetime. However, it’s fairly rare for people under the age of 45, and there are 600,000 endometrial cancer survivors.
In Merrit et al.’s study, data on dietary habits were gathered from over 500,000 women ages 25-70 from 1992 to 2000. 84 different types of food items that these women consumed on a regular basis were evaluated through a type of survey. In this cohort, about 2,800 women eventually developed cancer and it was found at least 10 of the items (including: butter, yogurt, cheese, coffee) have been found to have some sort of relationship with endometrial cancer risk. Out of the 10 items that have previously been found to relate to endometrial cancer risk, only coffee seems to have an inverse relationship while foods such as butter, yogurt, potatoes, and carbohydrates seemed to increase the risk.
So, don’t feel too guilty about that extra cup of Grande Americano when you hit up Starbucks next time. Drink up, and remember that it might help you a bit somewhere down the line.
Feature Image Source: coffee beans by Amanda
