But in some respects, what I am enamored with is the UK Biobank study that gives us this information, moreso than the information itself.
This is crazy cool. The UK Biobank study accumulated information from 500,000 Brits aged 40-69 between 2006-2010 for a 30 year longitudinal study about the effects of genetics and environment. Each participant submitted personal information about their habits and medication. They had physical exams and blood and urine tests. With their National Health System, their medical records are available for study. So there is all this DATA! Have I ever told you how much I love data?
In this particular study, they queried details of coffee consumption. This has been done before, but they espoused to ensure there was no difference in the benefits of coffee whether it was decaffeinated, ground, or instant coffee. Over 320,000 (78%) people claimed to drink coffee drinkers compared to 21% of controls. Now here is the part that I like… we got numbers!
Coffee drinkers had at 21% less chance of liver disease, 20% less chance of fatty liver disease, and 50% less risk of death from liver disease. Benefits persisted despite what type of coffee was drunk.
