Yet another story showing the positive effect of something we are normally told is bad for us!

A team of researchers at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, have found that heavy consumption of coffee reduces the risk of breast cancer.  They found that malignant tumours in breasts were reduced by 20 per cent but the effect was greater on a rarer form of breast cancer – known as ER negative – where the incidence rates were halved, compared with non coffee drinkers.  The study was based on women aged 50 and over.

The researchers do not know why coffee has such an effect but it is rich in antioxidants which have long been known to fight heart disease and cancer.  According to different research conducted in 2005, Joe A. Vinson, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, U.S., claimed Americans get most of their antioxidants from drinking coffee.  For some this will be surprising because health organisations frequently call on people to eat vegetables and especially fruit as a means of ingesting antioxidants. An article in Psyorg suggests that although the absolute best food for antioxidants is dates but that coffee is number one source of antioxidants.

Stu’s view: only last week we ran a story on the health benefits of salt see High salt diet is good for you and over the last few months we must have run 5 or 6 stories on the positive impact of drinking alcohol, like for example this one: A beer a day keeps the doctor away.  Having said that, we also done plenty on the negative effect of alcohol e.g. Alcohol linked to cancer and Alcohol the killer.  No wonder people get confused!  Fortunately because we make our living providing life assurance, critical illness insurance and income protection we are not part of some evangelistic lobby group so there is no need for us to cover up or ignore stories that don’t support a particular view. : )

Written exclusively for The Life Insurance Department 12 May 2011