Why you should be drinking six coffees per day

We're constantly hearing scare stories about caffeine. But coffee isn't all bad.

Doctors from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have completed an extensive study into the relationship between coffee and a healthy liver function. The analysis looks good for anyone who can't start the day without a morning espresso.

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Results suggest that people who drink 3-5 cups per day had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, Type 2 diabetes, and even suicide. Interestingly, this might not be the work of caffeine and could even be an extreme form of placebo - decaf or not, drinking 5 cups a day will still improve your health. Vincenzo Lembo, author of the study at the University of Napoli, thinks that high coffee intake could actually reduce the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (or NAFLD, for short) and has proven his theory correct, at least in mice:

"Previous studies have confirmed how coffee can reverse the damage of NAFLD, but this is the first to demonstrate that it can influence the permeability of the intestine. The results also show that coffee can reverse NAFLD-related problems such as ballooning degeneration, a form of liver cell degeneration."

So don't feel so guilty. Stick the kettle on.