Having an addictive personality sometimes gets me into trouble. I've been known to do nothing but play one video game for days on end. There are a number of websites I can't go a day without checking. And, like many people, I'm pretty much useless without a hefty wallop of coffee each morning. If I don't have time to load a pot into my body, I become a stiff, cranky mess who hates sunlight and kittens and all things good in the world. I know some people who aren't real people on a given day until they've gone for a run or eaten, but coffee is my own real human on switch. It isn't just the caffeine, although that's obviously what's got me hooked. I couldn't do a daily Red Bull or pill. I like the ritual of it, the hot water, the smell, the taste. Luckily for me, it turns out my addiction may have a few more health benefits than most.
"Addiction" is a weighty word, especially when it comes to health. Cigarettes are obviously a no-go when it comes to taking care of your body. Same with alcohol, to say nothing of the unseemlier habit-forming drugs. The health effects of coffee have long been debated. Some praise its antioxidants, while others assert that nothing that makes you feel that good could possibly be good for you. It does contain some nasty oily components that need to be filtered out, and some of its chemicals have been shown to be carcinogenic in rodents. It's also pretty acidic and can be harsh on the digestive system, especially if you've already got some malfunction in there. And drinking too much of it can make for an unsightly system shock. On the other hand, it improves mental functions--and new studies show evidence that it may actually reduce the risk of cancer in humans.
Well, possibly. Researchers at Rutgers University are looking into the way caffeine fights UV damage to skin. A recently completed study shows that caffeine inhibits a protein enzyme called ATR in the skin. Apparently the activity of ATR upon exposure to UV rays can lead to skin cancer. With the protein disabled by caffeine, the risk of cancer goes down. The study had a group of mice drink caffeinated water, then exposed them to UVB radiation. The caffeinated mice were able to kill off their damaged cells more effectively and stave off cancer growth.
While the study's not entirely conclusive on whether drinking coffee will definitely prevent cancer, it does seem as though the presence of caffeine in the body gives your skin an edge in dealing with sun-related cell damage. The study suggests that topically applied caffeine might be better protection than the ingested kind. Of course, using sunscreen to block UV rays is probably your best protection right now, unless you really feel like bathing in coffee to test its anti-carcinogenic properties (probably not the most cost-effective way to shield your skin from sunshine). Still, it's nice to know my old standby legal drug is good for more than just kickstarting my brain into high gear every morning.