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I recently already did a post on vitamin E’s protective effects on the liver – Vitamin E Is Liver Protective. To continue on the subject of protecting against/reversing liver disease, it appears that the most well known performance enhancer – caffeine, also has significant amount of well documented benefits on the liver. Again, I suggest anyone with liver problems (elevated enzymes, NAFLD etc.) or anyone wanting to protect their liver prophylactically (or using something liver toxic) look into it. Here are some of the studies I found:
Coffee, caffeine, and the risk of liver cirrhosis. - PubMed - NCBI - the researchers evaluated whether the consumption of caffeine containing beverages lowered the risk of liver cirrhosis.
From the study: ‘A statistically significant trend toward lowered cirrhosis risk with increasing exposure to coffee was observed. The LC odds ratios decreased from 1.0 (reference category: lifetime abstainers from coffee) to 0.47 (95% confidence interval: 0.20, 1.10), 0.23 (0.10, 0.53), 0.21 (0.06, 0.74), and 0.16 (0.05, 0.50) in 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more cups of coffee drinkers, respectively.’
Increased caffeine consumption is associated with reduced hepatic fibrosis. - PubMed - NCBI - from the study:
‘...Daily caffeine consumption above the 75(th) percentile for the cohort (308 mg = approximately 2.25 cups of coffee equivalents) was associated with reduced liver fibrosis...’
‘...caffeine consumption, particularly from regular coffee, above a threshold of approximately 2 coffee-cup equivalents per day, was associated with less severe hepatic fibrosis.’
Coffee consumption in NAFLD patients with lower insulin resistance is associated with lower risk of severe fibrosis. - PubMed - NCBI - nonalcoholic steatohepatitis was found in 79% of the subjects and 25% had advanced liver fibrosis:
‘Coffee intake is inversely associated with advanced fibrosis among NAFLD patients with lower HOMA-IR.’
So, this study found that coffee was protective against liver fibrosis only in people with lower insulin resistance.
Non – alcoholic steatohepatitis – liver inflammation and damage caused by buildup of fat in the liver.
Association of coffee and caffeine consumption with fatty liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and degree of hepatic fibrosis. - PubMed - NCBI - the study found that there was a significant difference in caffeine consuption (CC) between people with bland steatosis, NASH stage 0-1 and advanced stages of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.i.e. caffeine consuption was lower in people in advanced stages of NASH (liver disease).
‘Spearman's rank correlation analysis further supported a negative relationship between coffee CC and hepatic fibrosis...’
Regular coffee but not espresso drinking is protective against fibrosis in a cohort mainly composed of morbidly obese European women with NAFLD und... - PubMed - NCBI - from the study:
‘...regular coffee consumption was lower in patients with significant fibrosis (F ≥2). According to logistic regression analysis, consumption of regular coffee was an independent protective factor for fibrosis...’
Caffeine is protective in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. - PubMed - NCBI - from the study:
‘Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome, is the most common cause of primary liver disease. Although recent studies have found that coffee drinking is protective against end stage chronic liver disease, there are scarce caffeine intake data in NAFLD specifically.’
‘Our analysis shows that caffeine intake is independently associated with a lower risk for NAFLD suggesting a potential protective effect...’
Protective role of coffee in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). - PubMed - NCBI - results:
‘Less fatty liver involvement is present in coffee vs. non-coffee drinkers. Odds ratios show that obesity, higher insulin resistance, lower HDL cholesterol, older age and arterial hypertension are associated with a greater risk of more severe BLS; to the contrary, coffee drinking is associated with less severe BLS.’
BLS (bright liver score) – a measure of liver disease. Higher value means higher severity of fatty liver.
High coffee intake is associated with lower grade nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: the role of peripheral antioxidant activity. - PubMed - NCBI - Coffee intake was significantly higher in the group without NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). The study also found that patients with NAFLD had higher insulin resistance, which also has an inverse relationship with coffee and caffeine consumption. Here are some studies showing that: Diabetes Care:
‘Higher habitual coffee consumption was associated with higher insulin sensitivity (1) and a lower risk for type 2 diabetes (2–6) in diverse populations.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22146708
Even though there is some contrary evidence to this, most studies show coffee/caffeine being protective against type 2 diabetes, which would suggest improved insulin sensitivity.
Dosage: One thing to note, is that a lot of these studies measured total coffee intake itself, not isolated caffeine. It’s not entirely clear (to myself and researchers) whether caffeine itself, in isolation, would be as effective. According to the studies, the best prescription would probably be to drink no less than 3 cups of coffee daily, to achieve the liver protective effects. I’ve personally used up to 1g caffeine daily (in divided doses)combined with L-theanine and noticed benefits in terms of focus and cognition, so it’s nice to know that it has these effects on the liver, in addition.
Here’s the product I use daily: http://amzn.to/2ilUvfy or just drink 4-5 cups of coffee daily (about 100mg of caffeine per cup).
Further reading on caffeine, in general:
http://amzn.to/2ieRhw5 - there are a lot of books written on the negative aspects of caffeine, as people want to profit off controversy. This was one of the few I found that looks at both sides of the story.
http://amzn.to/2j9KLGr - the history of caffeine, along with some research on its effects, very interesting.
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/caffeine.shtml - a great article on the various benefits of caffeine, by Ray Peat.
Coffee, caffeine, and the risk of liver cirrhosis. - PubMed - NCBI - the researchers evaluated whether the consumption of caffeine containing beverages lowered the risk of liver cirrhosis.
From the study: ‘A statistically significant trend toward lowered cirrhosis risk with increasing exposure to coffee was observed. The LC odds ratios decreased from 1.0 (reference category: lifetime abstainers from coffee) to 0.47 (95% confidence interval: 0.20, 1.10), 0.23 (0.10, 0.53), 0.21 (0.06, 0.74), and 0.16 (0.05, 0.50) in 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more cups of coffee drinkers, respectively.’
Increased caffeine consumption is associated with reduced hepatic fibrosis. - PubMed - NCBI - from the study:
‘...Daily caffeine consumption above the 75(th) percentile for the cohort (308 mg = approximately 2.25 cups of coffee equivalents) was associated with reduced liver fibrosis...’
‘...caffeine consumption, particularly from regular coffee, above a threshold of approximately 2 coffee-cup equivalents per day, was associated with less severe hepatic fibrosis.’
Coffee consumption in NAFLD patients with lower insulin resistance is associated with lower risk of severe fibrosis. - PubMed - NCBI - nonalcoholic steatohepatitis was found in 79% of the subjects and 25% had advanced liver fibrosis:
‘Coffee intake is inversely associated with advanced fibrosis among NAFLD patients with lower HOMA-IR.’
So, this study found that coffee was protective against liver fibrosis only in people with lower insulin resistance.
Non – alcoholic steatohepatitis – liver inflammation and damage caused by buildup of fat in the liver.
Association of coffee and caffeine consumption with fatty liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and degree of hepatic fibrosis. - PubMed - NCBI - the study found that there was a significant difference in caffeine consuption (CC) between people with bland steatosis, NASH stage 0-1 and advanced stages of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.i.e. caffeine consuption was lower in people in advanced stages of NASH (liver disease).
‘Spearman's rank correlation analysis further supported a negative relationship between coffee CC and hepatic fibrosis...’
Regular coffee but not espresso drinking is protective against fibrosis in a cohort mainly composed of morbidly obese European women with NAFLD und... - PubMed - NCBI - from the study:
‘...regular coffee consumption was lower in patients with significant fibrosis (F ≥2). According to logistic regression analysis, consumption of regular coffee was an independent protective factor for fibrosis...’
Caffeine is protective in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. - PubMed - NCBI - from the study:
‘Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome, is the most common cause of primary liver disease. Although recent studies have found that coffee drinking is protective against end stage chronic liver disease, there are scarce caffeine intake data in NAFLD specifically.’
‘Our analysis shows that caffeine intake is independently associated with a lower risk for NAFLD suggesting a potential protective effect...’
Protective role of coffee in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). - PubMed - NCBI - results:
‘Less fatty liver involvement is present in coffee vs. non-coffee drinkers. Odds ratios show that obesity, higher insulin resistance, lower HDL cholesterol, older age and arterial hypertension are associated with a greater risk of more severe BLS; to the contrary, coffee drinking is associated with less severe BLS.’
BLS (bright liver score) – a measure of liver disease. Higher value means higher severity of fatty liver.
High coffee intake is associated with lower grade nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: the role of peripheral antioxidant activity. - PubMed - NCBI - Coffee intake was significantly higher in the group without NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). The study also found that patients with NAFLD had higher insulin resistance, which also has an inverse relationship with coffee and caffeine consumption. Here are some studies showing that: Diabetes Care:
‘Higher habitual coffee consumption was associated with higher insulin sensitivity (1) and a lower risk for type 2 diabetes (2–6) in diverse populations.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22146708
Even though there is some contrary evidence to this, most studies show coffee/caffeine being protective against type 2 diabetes, which would suggest improved insulin sensitivity.
Dosage: One thing to note, is that a lot of these studies measured total coffee intake itself, not isolated caffeine. It’s not entirely clear (to myself and researchers) whether caffeine itself, in isolation, would be as effective. According to the studies, the best prescription would probably be to drink no less than 3 cups of coffee daily, to achieve the liver protective effects. I’ve personally used up to 1g caffeine daily (in divided doses)combined with L-theanine and noticed benefits in terms of focus and cognition, so it’s nice to know that it has these effects on the liver, in addition.
Here’s the product I use daily: http://amzn.to/2ilUvfy or just drink 4-5 cups of coffee daily (about 100mg of caffeine per cup).
Further reading on caffeine, in general:
http://amzn.to/2ieRhw5 - there are a lot of books written on the negative aspects of caffeine, as people want to profit off controversy. This was one of the few I found that looks at both sides of the story.
http://amzn.to/2j9KLGr - the history of caffeine, along with some research on its effects, very interesting.
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/caffeine.shtml - a great article on the various benefits of caffeine, by Ray Peat.
