A recent study by the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Berghofer Medical Research Institution has found there is no link between drinking coffee every day and getting cancer.
The study looked at data from more than 300,000 coffee drinkers using previous international observational studies and a genetic-based technique called Mendelian randomisation.
Associate Professor, at QIMR Berghofer, Stuart MacGregor says that using a genetic-based approach to assess whether coffee increases cancer risk is a “very powerful approach”.
Ultimately, Stuart says the results were conclusive.
“What we found was that irrespective of specific compounds that were there, in terms of the relationship between the coffee they [the consumer] drink every day and whether they ultimately get cancer, we found that essentially there is no link,” says Stuart in an ABC News report.
“Genetics don’t lie. For other diseases, the jury’s still out – we need to do more work.”
The results were a surprise to the report’s lead researcher, Jue-Sheng Ong, due to the vast amount of conflicting data available surrounding coffee’s apparent carcinogenic risks.
“That is something that was a bit shocking for us because we always thought either coffee is associated to some kind of therapeutic benefit or coffee might be associated with increased risk for many cancers, and that’s clearly not the case here,” Jue- Sheng Ong says in an ABC report.