FROM ENGLISH SALON

Could coffee protect our liver against alcohol?

Drinking coffee may shield the liver from the worst ravages of alchol, a study of more than 125000 people suggests. The risk of developing alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver dropped with each cup of coffee they drank per day.

"Consuming coffee seems to have some protective benefits against alcoholic cirrhosis, and more coffee a person consumes the less risk they seem to have of being hosptialised or dying of alcoholic cirrhosis," says an American scientist American Klatsky who led the study.

His team identified people who had enrolled on a private health care plan in northern California had also completed health qestionnaires on the amount of alcohol tea and coffee they drank over the courese of a year. Some had also had their blood tested for levels of certain liver enzymes which ae released into the bloodstream when the liver is diseased or damaged.

The researchers indentified how many of these people had gone on to develop cirrhosis -- a total of 330 people, including 199 with alcoholic cirrhois.

People drinking one cup of coffee per day were, on average, 20% less likely to develop alcoholic cirrhosis. For people drinking two or three cups the reduction was 40%, and for those drinking four or more cups of coffee a day the reduction in risk was 80%.

Among those who had their blood drawn, liver enzyme levels were higher in individuals who drank more alcohol, indicating liver disease or damage. However, those who drank both alcohol and coffee had lower levels than those who drank alcohol but did not drink coffee.

"This is not a recommendation to drink coffee, nor is it a recommendation that the way to deal with heavy alcohol consumption is to drink more coffee," warns Klatsky