It will keep your mind fit and your stomach healthy.
Drink some coffee and it may not only be your sleepy brain that benefits: A new study from the University of Southern California found that coffee can protect you from stomach cancer .
In the study, people who drank regular or decaffeinated coffee were 26 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer – the fourth most common type of cancer in the United States – than those who abstained from drinking it.
And you don’t need to take gallons to make a difference.
People who only drank one or two servings of coffee a day were 22 percent less likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer compared to people who drank fewer servings. Those who drank more than 2.5 servings reduced the risk by 54 percent.
Because the relationship held for both decaf and regular coffee , the researchers believe that another component besides caffeine is key.
Compounds called melanoidins, which form during the roasting process, can speed up colon motility, or the speed with which food moves through your intestines, says Dr. Stephen Gruber, author of the study.
And that’s important, because rapid motility reduces the time the intestine is exposed to potentially harmful agents, explains Dr. Stephanie Schmit, author of the study.
Due to the study design, the researchers were not able to definitively verify a related cause and effect between coffee and colon cancer reduction .
More research is needed before experts can say for sure that drinking coffee is a solid way to reduce the risk of colon cancer , Schmit says.
But in the meantime, keep drinking your daily coffee , just be sure to combine it with proven strategies like regular physical activity and a diet high in fruits and vegetables to further protect your gut, he concludes.