6 coffees a day reduce the risk of prostate cancer

A study conducted at Harvard would seem to show that the habit of drinking a lot of coffee could halve the odds of developing a fatal prostate tumor.

So say researchers at Harvard, where they conducted a 20-year study involving nearly 50,000 men who drank at least six coffees a day, from which they inferred a 20% lower incidence of prostate cancer compared with those who do not drink even a single cup.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports data from studies that would demonstrate risk reductions of as much as 60%, and the advantage would be that, in this case, there is no difference whatsoever between traditional coffee and decaffeinated coffee.

To reach these conclusions, the Harvard researchers compared men's coffee-drinking habits every four years between 1986 and 2006. Two thirds of the participants reported drinking at least one cup a day, and 5% six. Out of 47,911 men, 5,035 developed prostate cancer, with 642 of the tumors classified as lethal.

Even a smaller amount of coffee (1 to 3 cups a day) lowered the risk of contracting the fatal tumor by about 30%.

The greater the amount of coffee consumed, the greater the protective effect against prostate cancer proves to be.
This is not to say that coffee devotees also have healthier lifestyles.
Usually, hardcore coffee drinkers are the ones more inclined to smoke and to exercise less. Several scientific studies have found that caffeine has a series of beneficial effects on health, including reducing the odds of suffering from asthma, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis. But in this case the researchers believe that other chemical substances are producing the beneficial effects.
They are convinced that it is the antioxidants that reduce the risk of developing fatal tumors by altering sex hormone levels, regulating blood sugar levels and easing inflammation.