Unique antioxidant in coffee associated with dramatic reduction in prostate cancer

Monday, May 23, 2011 by: Kshamica S. Nimalasuriya MD, MPH
Tags: coffee, prostate cancer, health news

(NaturalNews) Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer for men in the the United States. Other than being male, there are other factors such as age, race, and family history that may contribute to the risk. However, the screening tests for prostate cancer including digital examination and the PSA blood tests have been shown to be not always reliable. This is all the more reason that we need to prevent it.

A new study from Harvard University shows that consuming coffee, whether it be regular or decaffeinated, leads to a dramatic reduction in prostate cancer - and the degree of reduction is related to the amount of coffee consumed. Men who consumed six or more cups per day had a 60 percent lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer. Those who drank 3 cups a day had a 30 percent lower risk.

So what is it about the coffee? Surprisingly, it's not the caffeine. Coffee contains hundreds of biologically active compounds, including potent antioxidant activity, the most unique antioxidant being methylpridinium. Methylpridinium is found almost exclusively in coffee. It's anticancer properties have been previously noted in colon cancer studies.

Also recently published is a Swedish study which showed women who drank 5 or more cups of coffee a day had a much lower risk of developing a certain aggressive form of breast cancer.

Previous research has shown coffee to be helpful in diabetes, parkinsons disease, heart disease, gallstone disease, liver cancer and cirrhosis.

"We're not yet telling men to drink more coffee," said the Harvard study's lead author, Kathryn M. Wilson, "but there's mounting evidence that if they do, they don't have to worry about it."

Interesting caffeine comparison: One Starbucks grande coffee = 3 cups of generic coffee = 5 cans of Red Bull = 7 cans of Diet Coke = 7 cups of tea.

About the author:
Kshamica Nimalasuriya MD, MPH is a Preventive Medicine Physician involved with merging Media with Health, Open-Source Education, Herbal Medicine, Fitness, Nutrition, Wellness, and Love. She works on many initiatives bridging the global digital divide of health care education.

She has a line of organic natural skin care: www.NaturalEarthBody.com

You can also find her on twitter: www.twitter.com/drkshamicamd www.NaturalEarthBody.com