Drinking moderate amounts of coffee or even applying coffee to the skin has been shown to help prevent non-melanoma cancer in a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in America, the Herald Sun reported on 16 August.
"Caffeine might become a weapon in prevention because it inhibits ATR and also acts as a sunscreen and directly absorbs damaging UV light,” says Allan Coffey, director of the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research at Rutgers University and one of the study’s authors.Researchers conducted a 19-week study which showed that genetically altered mice were able to suppress the development of cancer even when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Previous studies have suggested that drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee per day suppresses ATR and causes the damaged cells harmed by UV rays to die-off. Research has also shown that coffee drinkers tend to have fewer in cidences of breast, uterine, prostate and colon cancers.Allan says his research team was able to confirm their hypothesis that caffeine, when consumed or applied to the skin, works by inhibiting ATR. The 19-week study results also proved that the engineered mice showed 69 per cent fewer tumours and four times fewer invasive tumours than the control group.
Allan says despite the initial breakthrough, further research is needed to discover whether the same technique could work on humans. “We want to see whether caffeine has an effect in people when you give it topically," he says.Cosmetic brand Cucina Cosmetica already supports the benefits of caffeine as a beauty product, and has developed a cosmetic range from 100 per cent recycled coffee grinds collected from restaurants and cafés across Australia.The natural, food-based products such as the Body Grind Rejuvenating Body Polish and Espresso Repair Natural Skin Moisturiser are infused with caffeine and high levels of anti-oxidants aiming to reduce cellulite to de-toxify skin and reduce puffiness.
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