Not only is coffee a great, short-term remedy to a hangover, it can help your liver from the previous night’s beating, too.
According to a new study, around three cups of coffee per day was found to have a positive impact on the liver, even for heavy boozers.
Dr. Alex Hodge, a consultant gastroenterologist and liver disease specialist at Monash Health, from a unit of Australia’s Monash University, headed the research. Her team studied 1,100 patients with either hepatitis C, hepatitis B or fatty liver; the latter condition a result of heavy alcohol consumption. They found coffee helped the liver filter the blood, which is one of the key ailments of a damaged liver.
Having said that, the greatest improvements were seen in the Hepatitis C patients, so researchers are wary of putting coffee as a universal liver aid. So those whose health problems stem from bacon-munching and beer-chugging probably need to consider diet and exercise, rather than extra lattes.
Interestingly, while scientists acknowledge coffee helps the liver, the reason is still unknown; caffeine’s a well-studied compound, but coffee’s full of other chemicals and their impact on the liver remain obscure.
