Coffee is quickly rising from the rank of nutritional "bad boy" to super-nutrient star status. A new study shows that a double espresso daily combined with exercise can prevent skin cancer. It joins other studies that show coffee helps keep a myriad of diseases, including diabetes, colon cancer, Parkinson's, and liver cancer, at bay, while protecting the memory of older women.
The study at Rutger's University in New Jersey divided hairless mice into four groups. One group drank caffeinated water that was the equivalent of two cups of coffee daily. The second group ran on a running wheel the equivalent of a person running between two and two and a half miles daily. The third group drank caffeinated water and exercised while the fourth group, which was the control group, did neither. All mice were exposed to lamps that generated enough UVB radiation to damage the DNA of skin cells.
Researchers discovered that the group of mice that drank caffeinated water and exercised, killed off damaged cells – those that would potentially lead to skin cancer – best of all. The mice that drank caffeine water killed off damaged skin cells 96 percent better than the control group, and the exercise-only group killed off damaged cells 120 percent better. But the group that both drank caffeine and exercised killed off almost 400 percent more damaged cells.
Regardless, people should still take care to protect themselves against the damaging rays of the sun. "You should not give up the sunblock," said Dr. Allan H. Conney, senior author of the study. It's the only proven way, say experts, to protect yourself from the damaging rays of the sun that can lead to skin cancer.
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