Coffee may protect against prostate cancer.
Read to the end to get the most useful information.
Coffee was once associated with an unhealthy stimulant. Today even health experts confirm that moderate coffee consumption prolongs life, protects against dementia, and reduces the risk of diabetes and stroke. To this list, scientists from Japan added another benefit for men - coffee may protect against prostate cancer.
Scientists also found no link between coffee consumption and the risk of developing any type of cancer. What's more, in some cases it has been observed that "black drink" can even help reduce the incidence of liver and colon cancer.
Dr. Hiroaki Iwamoto and his team at Kanazawa University in Japan claim that coffee inhibits the development of prostate cancer, the second most common cancer in men. Scientists have also described the mechanism of this phenomenon.
The Japanese were the first in the world to isolate two compounds from coffee that limit the growth of prostate cancer. We are talking about kahweol acetate and cafeestol. Experiments have shown that these substances slow down the growth of cells that are resistant to commonly used anti-cancer drugs.
The studies were carried out only on mice. Both substances were tested on prostate cancer cells implanted in 16 mice. Four of them made up the control group, four received cafeestol, four more kahweol acetate, the rest both cafeestol and kahweol acetate at the same time.
“We found that both cafestol and cahweol acetate inhibited the growth of cancer cells, but the combination worked synergistically that resulted in a marked slower tumor growth than the control mice, ”says Dr. Hiroaki Iwamoto, head of the research.
The scientist emphasized that after 11 days, untreated tumors grew 3.5 times (342%), and tumors of mice receiving both substances increased slightly more than 1.5 times (167%).
It is important to note that kahweol acetate and cafeestole are found in Arabica beans. In addition, the way the drink is prepared is very important.
Scientists at Kanazawa University emphasize that while the results of their experiments are promising, more detailed research is needed.
Important to remember!
Coffee is not only caffeine and compounds discovered by Japanese scientists. Coffee beans contain thousands of substances that give it taste, aroma and impact on health. Among others, these are chlorogenic, caffeic and quinic acids. They are antioxidants, that is, natural substances that fight free radicals in the body.
