Continuing the subject of diet and what is good for you or bad for you...
It turns out there is evidence that coffee does more than keep you awake. According to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute's article published January 20, 2015, a study done by Yale university's Erica Loftfield supports the theory that coffee works to prevent malignant melanoma.
"Previous research has shown that coffee drinking could protect against less deadly forms of skin cancer, apparently by mitigating the damage to skin cells caused by the sun's ultraviolet rays."
Malignant melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the US. There were 77,000 new cases of melanoma in 2013 and 6500 deaths from this cancer.
The study was done by surveying 3.5 million AARP members from six states,; California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. 447,400 members responded to the survey which began in 1995 and continued for ten years.
Statistical analysis of the data collected showed that people who drank the most coffee had the lowest rate in malignant melanoma. Also increasing consumption appeared to lower risk. People who drank one to three cups of coffee a day had about a ten percent reduction in risk. Increasing consumption to four or more cups a day had a twenty percent reduced risk.
The important ingredient here is caffeine. Those drinking decaffeinated coffee did not have the same benefit. One cannot rule out possible other ingredients that offer the protective qualities.
Sounds really good. But this is not a controlled study, it is a statistical analysis. According to the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, there have been many similar studies of the effect of coffee on health both favorable and unfavorable.
So I guess, if you drink coffee, you can feel smug that you are doing something good to protect yourself and if you don't drink coffee, you can consider the study unscientific. But whatever, stay out of the sun, wear a hat, and/or use sunscreen. We know that helps.
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