I am traditionally one who loves a cup of coffee. There was a short time when I thought I should try to come off of it because of the energy spike and crash. BUT after doing more reading about it, I have a hard time advocating that you stop drinking coffee. Instead, you might consider drinking even more of it after this episode! Today, we’re going to talk about why should enjoy your favorite morning brew.
For one, just generally speaking, coffee can be great for your health. There are studies that show that coffee lowers your risk of dying — as in dying from any cause (Barrea et al); per the book, the Coffee Lover’s diet, this may be up to as much as 15%. There are other studies that show that drinking coffee lowers your risk of diseases like obesity, type II diabetes and high cholesterol (Barrea et al). There’s also research that shows that drinking coffee lowers your risk of liver disease (Dranoff). There are also studies that show that coffee lowers your risk of getting Alzheimer’s dementia (Merighi et al).
What about coffee and our skin? Well, I’m glad you asked. Your skin CAN be improved by coffee, in at least in two ways.
ONE: Coffee lowers your risk of a condition called rosacea.
Rosacea is a common condition in which we get redness and pimples on our cheeks, nose, forehead and chin. Think of it like acne for middle aged adults but it comes with things like really unsightly redness. This condition tends to be much longer lasting than teenager acne, and certain factors like sunlight, heat, and even foods, can make it worse.
A study published in JAMA Dermatology looked at whether drinking coffee, tea, soda or eating chocolate affected your risk of developing rosacea over a 14 year period, involving a total of 82,000 women. Interestingly, caffeinated coffee lowered the risk of having rosacea, and the more that the women drank, the lower the risk became, with more than 4 cups of coffee/day providing the most benefit. Caffeine from other sources WAS NOT protective—in other words, drinking black tea or caffeinated soda or eating chocolate did not lower the risk of getting rosacea. In fact, chocolate was found to possibly cause rosacea. Interestingly, decaffeinated coffee WAS NOT protective. So, this suggests that the caffeine in coffee is somehow protective against getting rosacea. Perhaps it’s some other measured variable like polyphenols which may be higher in concentration in regular coffee compared to decaf.
Well what if the coffee you drink is really hot? As I mentioned, heat can trigger rosacea and even plain flushing, which is when your skin gets red and hot. Interestingly, HOT caffeinated coffee did not trigger flushing in patients with rosacea, even though these scientists found that heat from other causes did lead to flushing (p 1398 JAMA Derm). (The authors speculate that the polyphenols in coffee, with their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and vascular effects counteracted the effects of heat).
So why does coffee help prevent rosacea? Well, the reason is not exactly clear. The scientists speculated that the caffeine in coffee may help clamp down our blood vessels, reducing redness (called vasoconstriction). The antioxidants in coffee also have immune modifying effects and may reduce inflammation that would ordinarily trigger rosacea. Finally, they also thought that caffeine in coffee may actually modify hormone levels, including adrenaline, cortisol, and noradrenaline that would otherwise cause rosacea.
How much coffee should you drink if you’re worried you’ll develop rosacea, for example if you have a family history of rosacea?
Well, according to this study, the more coffee that you drink, the less likely you are to develop rosacea. That said, you don’t want to overdo it. Given their upper level of benefit was 4 cups a day, I would not drink more coffee than this. I think any more coffee and you’re likely not going to see any benefit but you may start to see some side effects. But before you decide, I would talk with your doctor to make sure that whatever amount you’re consuming is safe for you, particularly giving consideration to whatever other health conditions you might have.
Can coffee also help prevent regular acne, or acne vulgaris?
I was not able to find any studies on this topic, thus this is an area that needs to be studied more. BUT, there is clear evidence that milk and sugar can contribute to acne, so if you’re having a morning cup or two, I’d make sure to minimize your add ins and consider drinking it black.
THE SECOND WAY your skin benefits from drinking coffee: Coffee appears to reduce your skin cancer risk, including your risk of developing basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and even melanoma.
There are several studies that look at skin cancer risk in people that drink coffee. One study looking at 63,000 men and women in China showed a lower risk of the two most common types of skin cancer, including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma by about 50% and 67% respectively, in people that drank 3 or more cups of coffee per day. Black tea also helped lower the risk of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, though to a lesser degree, by about 30%. Other sources of caffeine did not show benefit, however. Just like with the rosacea study, the risk of skin cancer fell further with the more coffee ingested, with 400 mg/day demonstrating the lowest risk. This is equal to about 4 cups of coffee a day.
Another study that reviewed the existing medical science, collecting data on almost a million (927,173) people, and looked at coffee consumption and the risk of developing melanoma. Interestingly, coffee drinkers had about 25% lower likelihood of having melanoma (RR was 0.75). Those that drank decaffeinated coffee did show this same benefit.
What about other skin conditions? Can coffee help these too? At this point, we don’t know. There’s not a lot of science out there for other skin conditions and coffee drinking. You can imagine that with all of the antioxidants and other bioactive found in coffee, these benefits could be realized in other skin diseases. I guess we’ll find out as scientists start exploring these questions.
To summarize, it’s really clear to me that the skin benefits of coffee are pretty undeniable! There’s a clear link between coffee consumption and lower risk of having rosacea and skin cancer. It seems that the benefits increase with more coffee drinking, but may cap out at 4 cups per day. I definitely encourage you to talk with your primary care physician or healthcare provider before jumping head first into massive coffee consumption. And do remember that adding in a lot of milk or sugar may negate some of the benefits — enjoy it black!
References
1. Barrea et al. Coffee consumption, health benefits and side effects: a narrative review and update for dietitians and nutritionists. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2023;63(9):1238-1261.
2. Dranoff J. Coffee as chemoprotectant in fatty liver disease: caffeine-dependent and caffeine-independent effects. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol; 2023 Jun 1;324(6):G419-G421.
3. Li et al. Association of Caffeine intake and caffeinated coffee consumption with risk of incident rosacea in women. JAMA Dermatol. 2018; 154 (12): 1394- 1400.
4. Merighi et al. Caffeine for Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease: Is the A2A Adenosine Receptor Its Target? Biomolecules 2023 Jun 8;13(6):967.
5. Yew et al. Coffee Consumption and Melanoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. American Journal of Clinical Dermatology <https://link.springer.com/journal/40257> 2016; 17: 113–123.