Daily dose of coffee could help reverse non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Adding coffee to the diet of people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) could help reverse the condition, according to a new study conducted in mice presented at The International Liver Congress 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.

The study found that a daily dose of coffee (equivalent to six cups of espresso coffee for a 70kg person) improved several key markers of NAFLD in mice that were fed a high fat diet. These mice also gained less weight than others fed the same diet without the dose of caffeine.

The scientists also showed how coffee protects against NAFLD by raising levels of a protein called Zonulin (ZO)-1, which lessens the permeability of the gut. Experts believe that increased gut permeability contributes to liver injury and worsens NAFLD. People suffering from NAFLD can develop scaring of the liver, also known as fibrosis, which can progress to a potentially life-threatening condition known as cirrhosis.

"Previous studies have confirmed how coffee can reverse the damage of NAFLD but this is the first to demonstrate that it can influence the permeability of the intestine," said Vincenzo Lembo, at the University of Napoli, Italy and study author. "The results also show that coffee can reverse NAFLD-related problems such as ballooning degeneration, a form of liver cell degeneration."

Researchers analysed three different groups of mice over a 12 week period. Group one received a standard diet, group two had a high fat diet and group three was given a high fat diet plus a decaffeinated coffee solution.

Coffee supplementation to a high fat diet significantly reversed levels of cholesterol (p<0.001), alanine aminotransferase (an enzyme which levels increase in the blood when the liver is damaged) (p<0.05), amount of fat in the liver cells (steatosis) (p<0.001) and ballooning degeneration (p<0.05). The combination of coffee and a high fat diet also reduced weight gain over time (p=0.028) in the mice. The study results suggest that coffee supplementation could cause variations in the intestinal tight junctions, which regulate the permeability of the intestine.

Daily dose of coffee could help reverse non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Saccharin could potentially lead to development of drugs for difficult-to-treat cancers

Saccharin, the artificial sweetener that is the main ingredient in Sweet 'N Low®, Sweet Twin® and Necta®, could do far more than just keep our waistlines trim. According to new research, this popular sugar substitute could potentially lead to the development of drugs capable of combating aggressive, difficult-to-treat cancers with fewer side effects.

The finding will be presented today at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. The meeting features nearly 11,000 reports on new advances in science and other topics. It is being held here through Thursday.

"It never ceases to amaze me how a simple molecule, such as saccharin — something many people put in their coffee everyday — may have untapped uses, including as a possible lead compound to target aggressive cancers," says Robert McKenna, Ph.D., who is at the University of Florida. "This result opens up the potential to develop a novel anti-cancer drug that is derived from a common condiment that could have a lasting impact on treating several cancers."

The new work examines how saccharin binds to and deactivates carbonic anhydrase IX, a protein found in some very aggressive cancers. It is one of many driving factors in the growth and spread of such cancers in the breast, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas and brain. Carbonic anhydrase IX helps regulate pH in and around cancer cells, allowing tumors to thrive and potentially metastasize to other parts of the body. Because of this finding, the researchers wanted to develop saccharin-based drug candidates that could slow the growth of these cancers and potentially make them less resistant to chemo or radiation therapies.

Except for in the gastrointestinal tract, carbonic anhydrase IX is normally not found in healthy human cells. According to McKenna, this makes it a prime target for anti-cancer drugs that would cause little or no side effects to healthy tissue surrounding the tumor.

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In earlier work, scientists from a group led by Claudiu T. Supuran, Ph.D., at the University of Florence, Italy, discovered that saccharin inhibits the actions of carbonic anhydrase IX, but not the 14 other carbonic anhydrase proteins that are vital to our survival. Building on this finding, a team led by Sally-Ann Poulsen, Ph.D., at Griffith University, Australia, created a compound in which a molecule of glucose was chemically linked to saccharin. This small change had big effects. Not only did it reduce the amount of saccharin needed to inhibit carbonic anhydrase IX, the compound was 1,000 times more likely to bind to the enzyme than saccharin.

Using X-ray crystallography, McKenna and his students Jenna Driscoll and Brian Mahon have taken this work a step further by determining how saccharin binds to carbonic anhydrase IX, and how it or other saccharin-based compounds might be tweaked to enhance this binding and boost its anti-cancer treatment potential.

Saccharin could potentially lead to development of drugs for difficult-to-treat cancers

Can coffee protect against malignant melanoma? Study looks at trends .............

Both epidemiological and pre-clinical studies have suggested that coffee consumption has a protective effect against non-melanoma skin cancers. However the protective effect for cutaneous melanoma (malignant and in situ) is less clear, according to a study published January 20 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

To determine if there is an association between coffee consumption and risk of cutaneous melanoma, Erikka Loftfield, M.P.H., of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, and colleagues used data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Information on coffee consumption was obtained from 447,357 non-Hispanic white subjects with a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire in 1995/1996, with a median follow-up of 10 years. All subjects included in the analysis were cancer-free at baseline, and the authors adjusted for ambient residential ultraviolet radiation exposure, body mass index, age, sex, physical activity, alcohol intake, and smoking history.

Overall, the highest coffee intake was inversely associated with a risk of malignant melanoma, with a 20% lower risk for those who consumed 4 cups per day or more. There was also a trend toward more protection with higher intake, with the protective effect increasing from 1 or fewer cups to 4 or more. However, the effect was statistically significant for caffeinated but not decaffeinated coffee and only for protection against malignant melanoma but not melanoma in-situ, which may have a different etiology.

The researchers point out that the results are preliminary and may not be applicable to other populations, and therefore additional investigations of coffee intake are needed. However, they conclude that "Because of its high disease burden, lifestyle modifications with even modest protective effects may have a meaningful impact on melanoma morbidity.

Ref : http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/2/dju421

Can coffee protect against malignant melanoma? Study looks at trends   

Chemical compound in coffee may help prevent damaging effects of obesity

In continuation of my update on chlorogenic acid

Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that a chemical compound commonly found in coffee may help prevent some of the damaging effects of obesity.

In a paper published recently in Pharmaceutical Research, scientists found that chlorogenic acid, or CGA, significantly reduced insulin resistance and accumulation of fat in the livers of mice who were fed a high-fat diet.

"Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption may lower the risk for chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease," said Yongjie Ma, a postdoctoral research associate in UGA's College of Pharmacy and lead author of the paper. "Our study expands on this research by looking at the benefits associated with this specific compound, which is found in great abundance in coffee, but also in other fruits and vegetables like apples, pears, tomatoes and blueberries."

During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. More than one-third of U.S. adults and approximately 17 percent of children are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the annual medical cost of obesity is more than $147 billion.

Aside from weight gain, two common side effects of obesity are increased insulin resistance and the accumulation of fat in the liver. Left untreated, these disorders can lead to diabetes and poor liver function.

To test the therapeutic effects of CGA, researchers fed a group of mice a high-fat diet for 15 weeks while also injecting them with a CGA solution twice per week.

Chemical compound in coffee may help prevent damaging effects of obesity

Caffeine-based compound with small amount of gold could be used as anticancer agent

The side effects of ingesting too much caffeine - restlessness, increased heart rate, having trouble sleeping - are well known, but recent research has shown that the stimulant also has a good side. It can kill cancer cells. Now, researchers report in the ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry that combining a caffeine-based compound with a small amount of gold could someday be used as an anticancer agent.

Angela Casini, Michel Picquet and colleagues note that caffeine and certain caffeine-based compounds have recently been in the spotlight as possible anticancer treatments. But drinking gallons of coffee, sodas and energy drinks isn't the solution. And the regular caffeine in these drinks would start to have negative effects on healthy cells, too, at the levels necessary to kill cancerous ones. Gold also can wipe out cancer cells, but, like caffeine, it can harm healthy cells. So, the research team put the two together into certain configurations to see whether the new caffeine-based gold compounds could selectively stop cancer cells from growing without hurting other cells.

They made a series of seven new compounds, called caffeine-based gold (I) N-heterocyclic carbenes, in the laboratory and studied them. The scientists found that, at certain concentrations, one of the compounds of the series selectively killed human ovarian cancer cells without harming healthy cells. In addition, the compound targeted a type of DNA architecture, called "G-quadruplex," that is associated with cancer.

Ref : http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ic403011h?prevSearch=Angela%2BCasini&searchHistoryKey=

Caffeine-based compound with small amount of gold could be used as anticancer agent

Caffeine in coffee may help small blood vessels work better

The caffeine in a cup of coffee might help your small blood vessels work better, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013.

A study of 27 healthy adults showed - for the first time - that drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee significantly improved blood flow in a finger, which is a measure of how well the inner lining of the body's smaller blood vessels work. Specifically, participants who drank a cup of caffeinated coffee had a 30 percent increase in blood flow over a 75-minute period compared to those who drank decaffeinated coffee.

"This gives us a clue about how coffee may help improve cardiovascular health," said Masato Tsutsui, M.D., Ph.D., lead researcher and a cardiologist and professor in the pharmacology department at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan.

The study adds to a growing body of research about coffee, the most widely consumed beverage worldwide. Previous studies showed that drinking coffee is linked to lower risks of dying from heart disease and stroke, and that high doses of caffeine may improve the function of larger arteries.

Caffeine in coffee may help small blood vessels work better

Can Green Tea, Coffee Reduce Stroke Risk? - Drugs.com MedNews

In continuation of my update on green tea...

This study of about 83,000 people suggests that drinking green tea or coffee daily might lower stroke risk by about 20 percent, with even more protection against a specific type of stroke.

"The regular action of daily drinking [of] green tea and coffee is a benefit in preventing stroke," said lead researcher Dr. Yoshihiro Kokubo, chief doctor in the department of preventive cardiology at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, in Osaka.

"If you cannot readily improve your lifestyle, try to prevent stroke by drinking green tea every day," he said.

Although it isn't certain why coffee and tea may have this effect, Kokubo thinks it might be due to certain properties in these drinks that keep blood from clotting.

In addition, green tea contains catechins, which have an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effect. Some chemicals in coffee, such as chlorogenic acid, may cut the risk of stroke by lowering the chances of developing type 2 diabetes, he explained.

Coffee also contains caffeine, which may have an impact on cholesterol levels and blood pressure, and may cause changes in insulin sensitivity, which affects blood sugar, he added.

One expert, Dr. Ralph Sacco, past president of the American Heart Association, cautioned that this type of study cannot say for sure that the lower risk of stroke is really the result of drinking coffee or tea.

"Such association studies are still limited in [the] ability to tell whether it is some ingredients in the coffee or tea or some other behavior common to coffee and tea drinkers that is driving the protective effects," said Sacco, chairman of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Can Green Tea, Coffee Reduce Stroke Risk? - Drugs.com MedNews

Caffeine's effect on the brain's adenosine receptors visualized for the first time

In continuation on my update on coffee

Molecular imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) has enabled scientists for the first time to visualize binding sites of caffeine in the living human brain to explore possible positive and negative effects of caffeine consumption. According to research published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, PET imaging with F-18-8-cyclopentyl-3-(3-fluoropropyl)-1-propylxanthine (F-18-CPFPX) shows that repeated intake of caffeinated beverages throughout a day results in up to 50 percent occupancy of the brain's A₁adenosine receptors.

"There is substantial evidence that caffeine is protective against neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease," noted Elmenhorst. "Several investigations show that moderate coffee consumption of 3 to 5 cups per day at mid-life is linked to a reduced risk of dementia in late life. The present study provides evidence that typical caffeine doses result in a high A₁ adenosine receptor occupancy and supports the view that the A₁ adenosine receptor deserves broader attention in the context of neurodegenerative disorders." 

Caffeine's effect on the brain's adenosine receptors visualized for the first time

Green coffee beans show potential for losing weight..

In  a  study  presented,  at  the  American  Chemical  Society’s  spring     national meeting in San Diego, 16 over weight young adults took, by turns, a low dose of green coffee bean extract, a high  dose  of  the supplement, and a placebo. Though the study was small, the results were striking: Subjects lost an average of 17.5 pounds in 22 weeks and reduced their overall body weight by 10.5%.If green coffee extract were a medication seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration, these results would make it a viable candidate — more than 35% of subjects lost more than 5% of their body weight, and weight loss appeared to be greater while subjects were taking the pills than when they were on the placebo.

Joe Vinson, the University of Scranton chemist who conducted the pilot study, said the findings should pave the way for more rigorous research on coffee bean extract’s effects. A larger trial involving 60 people is being planned.Vinson, whose research focuses on plant polyphenols and their effects on human health, said it appears that green coffee bean extract may work by reducing the absorption of fat and glucose in the gut; it may also reduce insulin levels, which would improve metabolic function. There were no signs of ill effects on any subjects, Vinson reported.

The study used a “cross-over” design, which allowed each subject to serve as his or her own comparison group. For six weeks, volunteers swallowed capsules three times a day, ingesting either 700 or 1,050 milligrams of green coffee extract a day or taking a placebo. After a two-week break, they moved, round-robin style, to another arm of the trial.Subjects did not change their calorie intake over the course of the trial. But the more extract they consumed, the more weight and fat they lost. Altogether, they reduced their body fat by 16%, on average.Of the 16 volunteers, six wound up with a body mass index in the healthful range.One downside is that the extract is “extremely bitter.” It would be difficult to take without a lot of water, Vinson reported.....

Ref : Detailed article read at

I found the following link more informative...

 http://greencoffeebeanreviews.com/

Coffee's Unique Health Benefits........

In continuation of my update on coffee, 

 

• Coffee is the greatest source of antioxidants in the American diet.3,4 And the good news is that sound scientific studies have found that the common fears about excess coffee consumption are invalid, and higher intake means bigger benefits. 
• An impressive number of studies have shown a strong association between higher consumption of coffee and a significantly reduced risk of most chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and others.
• With over 1,000 phytochemicals, coffee's unparalleled antioxidant punch no doubt plays a role in its protection against disease. But a multitude of direct biological actions on the body are suspected, such as an improvement in intracellular signaling,95,96 which may help prevent cancer, diabetes and more.
• Drinking just one cup of coffee a day - caffeinated or decaffeinated - can decrease the risk of developing diabetes by 13%.24 But at 12 cups a day, the risk of getting diabetes is slashed by 67%.21
• Far from being a risky habit, coffee has now been shown to provide powerful protection against an epidemic of diabetes and a rising tide of other age-related diseases. It's an all-natural and inexpensive elixir - to go!

 While I wanted to compile all the benefits of coffee in one article, I found a detailed article and many interesting ones at  Life Extension Magazine.  

At the same I was impressed with A graphic on coffee- How  Coffee Revolutionized the world !. It gives an idea about how the coffee revolutionized the world since 800 AD to 2012, well done Tony Shin.. 

Coffee may protect against womb cancer: Study

 In continuation of my update on the benefits of coffee

A new study shows that regular intake of coffee may significantly lower risk for endometrial or womb cancer.

For the study the researchers looked at coffee consumption and endometrial cancer risk in more than 67,000 women aged between 34 and 59 enrolled in the long-running Nurses' Health Study. The researchers found that women who took more than four cups of coffee a day over a 26-year period were 25 percent less likely to get the cancer. Women who drank two to three cups a day were 7 percent less likely to get it. Drinking less than four cups a day was not associated with reduced risk. Furthermore drinking tea did not reduce the risk. Additionally drinking more than two cups of decaffeinated coffee a day was tied to a 22 percent reduced risk for endometrial cancer.

The benefit wasn't a complete surprise, since coffee has been shown to lower estrogen and insulin levels, and higher levels of these hormones have been associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer. But the new findings do help to clarify how obesity, estrogen and coffee might interact in triggering tumors.

“It would be premature to make a recommendation that women drink coffee to lower their endometrial cancer risk,” study author Dr. Edward Giovannucci, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health...

Ref : http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2011/10/03/1055-9965.EPI-11-0766.abstract?sid=d8d229ed-e4b4-4b7a-bc6a-f3f86cba4c0e

Coffee reduces prostate cancer risk

Coffee reduces prostate cancer risk

Maillard reaction is the principle contributor to the antioxidant capacity of coffee brews ......

Food scientists at the University of British Columbia have been able to pinpoint more of the complex chemistry behind coffee's much touted antioxidant benefits, tracing valuable compounds to the roasting process.  Yazheng Liu and Prof. David Kitts found that the prevailing antioxidants present in dark roasted coffee brew extracts result from the green beans being browned under high temperatures.

Liu and Kitts analyzed the complex mixture of chemical compounds produced during the bean's browning process, called the "Maillard reaction (a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat). The term refers to the work by French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard who in the 1900s looked at how heat affects the carbohydrates, sugars and proteins in food, such as when grilling steaks or toasting bread. Previous studies suggested that antioxidants in coffee could be traced to caffeine or the chlorogenic acid (see structures above and below respectively)  found in green coffee beans, but the present results clearly show that the Maillard reaction is the main source of antioxidants claims the researchers.  Researchers conclude that that coffee beans lose 90 per cent of their chlorogenic acid during the roasting process, LFS food science professor and director of the Food, Nutrition and Health program.

Ref : Yazheng Liu and David D. Kitt, Food Research International.

Method developed to reduce acrylamide (carcinogen) formation during production of potatoes and coffee...

A small research-based Norwegian company has developed a method to reduce the formation of the carcinogenic compound acrylamide during industrial production of potatoes and coffee. International food giants are paying attention. In 2002 Swedish researchers found that the carcinogenic compound acrylamide was present in many foods - a discovery that grabbed international headlines and frightened consumers and food safety authorities around the world. What these production foods had in common was high-temperature cooking which formed a crust or browning reaction. The acrylamide issue has had dramatic consequences for the manufacturers involved.

Since then a great deal of research has been focused on acrylamide. The compound has been found in bread, some types of crackers and sweet biscuits, deep-fried potato products and coffee. Research has also been carried out on the compound's effects on humans and on production methods that can reduce or remove acrylamide from our foods.

Norwegian Hans Blom  and his research team found a method that limits the formation of acrylamide during the production of potato products and coffee. It was the patent for this method that provided the springboard for the company Zeracryl.

"Our method is based on lactic acid fermentation," explains Dr Blom. "Acrylamide is formed as a reaction between the amino acid asparagine and simple sugars such as glucose and fructose. Put simply, the lactic acid bacteria remove these compounds and inhibit the formation of acrylamide."

The team's ongoing experiments show that 10 to 15 minutes' immersion in lactic acid bacteria culture before cooking reduces acrylamide formation in the final product by roughly 90 per cent.

Zeracryl will continue its work in the research project Lactic acid fermentation as a tool to reduce formation of acrylamide in fried potato products and roasted coffee in cooperation with the international food conglomerate Nestlé, the Norwegian producers of potato products Hoff AS and Maarud, and the research institute Nofima. The project is supported by the Research Council of Norway's Food Programme and is scheduled to run until 2012...

Ref 1. http://www.angelfire.com/az/sthurston/acrylamides_cancer_causing.html
      2. Zeracryl 

New evidence that drinking coffee may reduce the risk of diabetes

In continuation of my update on benefits of coffee....

New evidence that drinking coffee may reduce the risk of diabetes

Patients with chronic hepatitis C can benefit by drinking coffee

Patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drink three or more cups of coffee per day have a 53% lower risk of liver disease progression than non-coffee drinkers according to a new study. The study found that patients with hepatitis C-related bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis who did not respond to standard disease treatment benefited from increased coffee intake. An effect on liver disease was not observed in patients who drank black or green tea.

Read......

Patients with chronic hepatitis C can benefit by drinking coffee