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Coffee Deters DNA Damage

           

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Previously, studies have suggested that regular coffee consumption decreases oxidative damage in peripheral white blood cells. T. Bakuradze, from the University of Kaiserslautern (Germany), and colleagues investigated the consumption of a dark-roast coffee blend on the level of spontaneous DNA strand breaks. The researchers enrolled 84 healthy men to consume daily for 4 weeks either 750 ml of fresh coffee brew or 750 ml of water, subsequent to a run in washout phase of 4 weeks. The study coffee was a blend providing high amounts of both caffeoylquinic acids (10.18 ± 0.33 mg/g) and the roast product N-methylpyridinium (1.10 ± 0.05 mg/g). Before and after the coffee/water consumption phase, the researchers conducted assays to assess for spontaneous DNA strand breaks. Whereas at the study’s start, both groups exhibited a similar level of spontaneous DNA strand breaks – in the intervention phase, spontaneous DNA strand breaks slightly increased in the control (water only) group whereas they significantly decreased in the coffee group, leading to a 27 % difference. Observing that: “The consumption of the study coffee substantially lowered the level of spontaneous DNA strand breaks in [white blood cells,” the study authors write that: “We conclude that regular coffee consumption contributes to DNA integrity.”