One In 10 Adults Think Coffee Causes Cancer

Adam Gault via Getty Images

Almost one in 10 adults mistakenly think that coffee causes cancer, a leading charity has found.

SEE ALSO:
Coffee Vs Exercise: 30-Second Workout Gives Greater Mental Boost Than Caffeine
Which Major Coffee Shop Chain Is First Choice For Adulterers?

A new poll reveals the extent of the British public's misconceptions about coffee, with 9% of those polled believing drinking it can lead to the disease.

And one in 10 think caffeine is the key to weight loss, according to the survey of 2,000 adults.

But the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) said there is no scientific evidence for either assumptions.

In fact, the latest analysis of research has shown that it can have a preventative effect against womb cancer and there are suggestions it may protect against liver cancer, the WCRF said.

Story continues below the slideshow:

Coffee Health Benefits

Coffee (Or At Least, The Caffeine!) Can Help You Proofread Better (01 of07)

The caffeine in coffee could actually help you to spot grammatical errors, according to a new study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. Researchers found that caffeine helped students to correct errors in subject-verb agreement and verb tense, MSNBC reported. However, the caffeine still didn't seem to make a difference at identifying misspelled words -- sorry. (credit:alamy)

Coffee Could Lower Women's Depression Risk (02 of07)

Women who drink a few cups of caffeinated coffee have a lower risk of depression than women who don't drink any coffee, according to a Harvard study. That research, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that women who drink two to three cups of coffee a day have a 15 percent lower risk, while women who drink four or more cups of coffee a day have a 20 percent lower risk. Study research Dr. Albert Ascherio told HuffPost earlier that "caffeine is known to affect the brain," because it "modulates the release of mood transmitters." "I'm not saying we're on the path to discovering a new way to prevent depression," he said. "But I think you can be reassured that if you are drinking coffee, it is coming out as a positive thing." (credit:alamy)

Coffee Could Save Your Brain (03 of07)

... Well, maybe. A study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease suggests that there's something in coffee -- though researchers have yet to determine what exactly that "something" is -- interacts with caffeine to boost the levels of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF), a growth factor that seems to be able to fight off Alzheimer's disease in mice. The amount of coffee needed in the study is equivalent to about four or five cups of coffee for humans. Researchers said GCSF likely has this effect because it causes stem cells in the bone marrow to come into the brain and remove the beta-amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease. It also has a role in forming brain cell connections and creating new brain neurons, researchers said. (credit:alamy)

Coffee Could Lower Men's Prostate Cancer Risk (04 of07)

A Harvard School of Public Health study shows that men who drink six cups of coffee a day have a 60 percent decreased chance of developing a dangerous form of prostate cancer, as well as a 20 percent decreased chance of developing any other kinds of prostate cancer. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, also shows that just drinking just some coffee a day -- just one to three cups -- could still cut prostate cancer risk by 30 percent. (credit:alamy)

Coffee Could Ward Off The World's Most Common Cancer (05 of07)

New research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference shows that coffee could help to ward off basal cell carcinoma, the most common cancer in the world.Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that women who drink three or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day have a 20 percent lower risk of the skin cancer, while men had a 9 percent lower risk. Decaf coffee didn't seem to have the same protective effect -- so "our study shows that the inverse association with BCC appears due to caffeine, not other components in the coffee consumption," study researcher Fengju Song, Ph.D., earlier told HuffPost. (credit:alamy)

Coffee Could Protect You From Type 2 Diabetes (06 of07)

Drinking coffee is associated with a lower Type 2 diabetes risk, with more coffee consumption linked to a greater decrease in risk, according to an Archives of Internal Medicine review of studies from 2009.In that review, researchers looked at data from more than 450,000 people in 18 studies, and found that for every extra cup of coffee drank a day, a person's risk of Type 2 diabetes decreased by 7 percent. However, researchers cautioned that "the putative protective effects of these beverages warrant further investigation in randomized trials." (credit:alamy)

Coffee Could Decrease Parkinson's Risk(07 of07)

Drinking a few cups of coffee a day could lower the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by as much as 25 percent, according to a study published last year in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. In that review of studies, which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, researchers examined 26 studies that involved 125,000 British people, to find that two or three cups of coffee seemed to have the optimal effect, The Telegraph reported. (credit:alamy)

Meanwhile, more than one in five believe caffeine is the "most dangerous" substance in coffee, when the highest health risk associated with the drink is sugar and full-fat milk or cream that is added to it, the charity said.

"New evidence from our Continuous Update Project (CUP) suggests drinking coffee may decrease the risk of womb cancer, but there are still too many unanswered questions - such as how many cups we should drink, or how regularly - for us to provide any advice on coffee drinking," said Dr Rachel Thompson, head of research interpretation at the charity.

"The CUP has found no consistent evidence that suggests coffee increases or decreases the risk of any other cancers but we are continually reviewing the evidence to see if this changes."

caffeine cancer uk lifestyle news Coffee womb cancer

Related