So much has been said about Alcohol, what to take and what not to take. What is healthy and what isn’t.
Now health experts are saying, just three alcoholic drinks a day can be enough to cause liver cancer.
But drinking coffee can potentially reduce the risk of the disease which affects more than 4,700 Britons each year, according to the research.
The World Cancer Research Fund said one quarter of cases of the disease – one of the most deadly cancers – could be prevented by moderate drinking and mantaining a healthy weight.
It said there was “convincing evidence” that drinking around 5 to 6 units of alcohol each day – around three standard (175g) glasses of wine – significantly increased the risk of liver cancer.
It also found said there were strong grounds to suggest that drinking coffee can reduce the risk of disease, with some studies suggesting a 14 per cent decreased risk for each cup drunk daily.
The major research reviewed 34 studies covering 8.2 million people of whom more than 24,500 had liver cancer.
It said the evidence was strongest about the impact of weight, alcohol, and coffee on the chance of disease.
But researchers said there was also “intriguing indications” that eating fish regularly and taking regular exercise could also reduce the chance of the disease, which has a survival rate of just 12 per cent at five years.
The exact cause of liver cancer is unknown, but most cases are associated with damage and scarring of the liver known as cirrhosis caused by excessive prolonged drinking or having a hepatitis B or hepatitis C viral infection.
Obesity and an unhealthy diet can also increase the risk of liver cancer because this can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
The number of cases in the UK is rising, which is believed to be linked to rising alcohol intake and spiraling levels of obesity in recent decades.
Researchers said that women should reduce their risk by having no more than one drink a day, and men just two.
