Three cups of coffee a day can help liver disease patients: Australian study

[Photo/IC]

People who drink more than two cups of coffee per day are less likely to suffer from liver conditions, according to a landmark Australian study.

The study, conducted by Monash University in Melbourne, focused on 1100 liver disease patients at the Monash Health Clinic and found that coffee was able to reduce the impact on their condition.

Two cups a day were found to reduce the damage caused by hepatitis C by up to 13 percent. Four cups were found to reduce the signs of fatty liver disease -- the most common liver disease affecting about 40 percent of Australians -- by as much as 24 percent.

Current statistics showed that around 6 million Australians are, or have been, affected by some form of liver disease, with fatty liver disease, hepatitis B and hepatitis C the three most common forms.

Alex Hodge, a liver disease specialist at Monash Health, revealed the findings of the study this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases in San Francisco.

He told Melbourne radio on Tuesday morning about the findings of his study and the apparent curative effects of coffee.

"Two or more cups of coffee led to an improvement in their liver disease," he said.

"Certainly moderate amounts of coffee, depending on the liver disease you're looking at, seem to be associated with less liver damage and probably less liver fat."

The study found the most dramatic results were found in patients with hepatitis C and that drinking tea had no effect on the liver.

In a separate study, coincidentally published on the same day, Harvard University's Chan School of Public Health found similar results with people who drink up to five cups of coffee per day.

"In the whole study population, moderate coffee consumption was associated with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's and suicide," the findings found.

"Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance and systematic inflammation," said Ming Ding, a Harvard doctoral student.

"That could explain some of our findings. However, more studies are needed to investigate the biological mechanisms producing these effects."

No preventative effects were found during this study, which was published in the latest edition of the journal Circulation.