This Week In: Caffeine

Caffeine is one of those substances, like soy or beta-carotine, that has a constantly evolving relationship with the headlines. One week coffee is a miracle elixir, the next it's a hot cup of death. This week is one of the good ones.

Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle (naturally) proved what previous studies had indicated - that caffeine can protect against sun damage. They showed that, in mice, caffeine causes cells damaged by the sun to self-destruct - especially damaged cells that might go on to cause skin cancer.

These studies aren't tried and true guidelines: they're often done in people with pre-existing conditions or risk factors, on mice, or with extremely high doses of caffeine. Still, there's a lot of confusion about what caffeine can or can't do, so we compiled some recent (within the last five years) caffeine-related research from research aggregator Newswise.com. Here's what we know - and what we don't.

The Good:
Improves memory in women (American Academy of Neurology)
Helps muscles refuel post-workout (American Physiological Society)
Protects against eyeball spasm that can lead to blindness (British Medical Journal)
Lowers risk of type-II diabetes (Archives of Internal Medicine)
Associated with lower risk of alcohol-related liver disease (Archives of Internal Medicine)

The Bad:
Increases miscarriage risk (American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology)
Increases non-fatal heart attack risk in those with rare gene variation (Journal of the American Medical Association)
Can trigger a heart attack in sedentary individuals with high risk factors (Epidemiology)

The Fake:
Does not increase hypertension in women (JAMA)
Does not affect birth weight or length when consumed by pregnant mothers (though the miscarriage link should override this particular concern) (BMJ)
Does not increase breast cancer risk (Archives of Internal Medicine)


With all the conflicting info, it's hard to figure out whether you should put the latte down or double your dose. If you're healthy, the answer is closer to what you mother told you all along - everything in moderation.

photo by Omar_MK, courtesy of Creative Commons,