Coffee can help prevent womb cancer

Women who drank four or more cups a day over many years were 25 per cent less likely to develop the disease than those who limited themselves to less than a cup daily, the 26-year study of almost 70,000 women found.

Both caffeinated and decaffeinated varieties seemed to help ward off the disease, although tea had no effect, the ‘Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention’ journal said.
Drunk regularly, coffee may help lower levels of hormones believed to fuel the cancer, say the researchers.

They said: “Increasing exercise and maintaining normal body weight are the most important ways to prevent endometrial cancer. However, additional strategies are needed and dietary habits such as coffee drinking could provide one option.”

However, the researchers cautioned that adding cream and sugar to the beverage may cancel out the effects, as may smoking, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

A total of 672 cases of the cancer, which affects the lining of the uterus, were reported in the study.

Lead researcher Edward Giovannucci said coffee could help against cancers associated with obesity, insulin and oestrogen, and it was shown to improve insulin resistance. He said: “Coffee has already been shown to be protective against diabetes due to its effect on insulin, so we hypothesised that we’d see a reduction in some cancers as well.

Laboratory testing has found that coffee has much more antioxidants than most vegetables and fruits.”