Cholesterol

To confuse matters further, a study published in the February 2006 issue of Diabetes Care found that decaf lowers the risk of diabetes, suggesting that something other than caffeine may be responsible for any protection coffee affords.As far as cancer is concerned, coffee might offer some protection, but no one knows how much.

A study published in the Feb.

16, 2005, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found a 52 per cent lower incidence of rectal cancer among people who regularly drank two or more cups of decaf a day.

Coffee contains some antioxidants, which can protect against cancer, but not enough of them to make up for risks posed by a poor diet.Other studies have suggested that coffee may protect against Parkinson's disease, but the evidence isn't strong enough to be certain.

In the largest study, among Japanese-American men in Honolulu, the more coffee the men drank, the lower their risk.

But no one can say whether those findings would hold true among women or even among men of other ethnic backgrounds.

Some studies have suggested that coffee also may protect against Alzheimer's disease, ...

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