Good News, Coffee Lovers, Drinking Coffee Prevents Damage to Your DNA

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We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Coffee packs a serious punch when it comes to your well-being. Studies have shown that drinking coffee every day has loads of health benefits, from improving your memory to protecting your brain from dementia. Now, new research published in the European Journal of Nutrition says that your daily brew might protect your DNA against damage, too.

For their study, researchers randomly divided 84 healthy men into two groups. Half of the participants drank 750 ml of coffee brew every day for four weeks, while the other half received 750 ml of water for the same time period. The participants avoided additional caffeine products during the trial and maintained their other daily habits.

Both groups showed similar levels of spontaneous DNA breakage at the beginning of the study. But after four weeks, those who drank coffee showed 27 percent less DNA breakage than the control group, the researchers reported.

Highly reactive molecules—produced during your normal metabolism cycle—are the culprits of DNA breakage. While a few of these molecules are nothing to be concerned about, in excess, they can damage the proteins in your DNA cells. Thankfully, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of bioactive compounds (which are created during the process of roasting coffee beans!) can counteract those molecules and prevent damage to your DNA.

Granted, only men were included in this study, so more research needs to be done on the effects of coffee for females. But in the name of your genes, it can’t hurt pour a good ol’ cup of Joe out today. And you might want to drink more than one cup; science says you can drink way more coffee than you thought to live longer.

[Source: 101HealthyLife]