According to a new study, coffee can actually reverse liver damage caused by alcohol consumption (as if you needed another reason to drink coffee!). That’s right, researches at the United Kingdom’s Southampton University found that drinking two cups of coffee a day lowers your risk for cirrhosis—a scary, and potentially fatal, liver disease—by 44 percent.
The same study found that that drinking one cup a day only lowers your risk by 28 percent and drinking three cups lowers you risk by a whopping 57 percent. If you can handle that much caffeine in one day, then you could be doing your liver a service.
While this survey does show some of the added benefits of coffee consumption, it’s important to remember the limitations of information like this. Three cups of coffee won’t erase the consequences of binge drinking, for example. Reducing your alcohol consumption is probably a much better way to lower your risk of cirrhosis. Also keep in mind that the study only used boiled and filtered coffee, so you probably won’t see great results by running to get a Frappuccino—And all that sugar will probably negate any positive effects on your liver.
“Coffee is a complex mixture containing hundreds of chemical compounds, and it is unknown which of these is responsible for protecting the liver,” Dr. Oliver Kennedy, the lead study author, told Reuters.
But no matter what, it’s always great to have another excuse to drink coffee. Looks like we have yet another reason to keep those thermoses filled with our favorite brew!