Coffee (and) science: medicine and climate change

 First the good medical news for coffee drinkers, from MedpageToday and the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology:

Coffee Lovers and Their Livers Can Celebrate, Study Suggests — Five or more cups a day linked to the greatest benefit  by Mike Bassett, Staff Writer, MedPage Today 

"Coffee consumption has been linked to a number of health benefits, such as reduced risks of dementia, head and neck cancer, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
According to data from the U.K. Biobank, a higher intake of coffee was associated with lower risks of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver-related mortality.
These associations persisted for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, and for unsweetened and sweetened coffee."

 

Here's the journal article: Kim H, Rezaee-Zavareh M, Wang Y ...
Coffee Consumption and Improved Liver Outcomes: Clinical, Imaging, and Proteomic Evidence From the UK Biobank, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2026;  

 

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 And here's more sobering news, published in Nature, about how climate change threatens coffee cultivation:

Coffee is under threat: how scientists are fighting to save it from extinction
Coffee plants are critically endangered by climate change. Researchers are finding solutions to keep scientists supplied with their favourite discovery fuel.   By Davide Castelvecchi 

"Nearly all the 10 million tonnes of coffee beans consumed annually around the world come from two plant species: the strong and often bitter robusta (Coffea canephora) and the more delicate-tasting arabica (Coffea arabica). Unfortunately, arabica suffers or dies when temperatures rise just a few degrees1, and robusta requires massive amounts of water and its yields drop drastically in a drought.

...

"Tesfaye says that scientists, of all people, should care about coffee’s future, not just because science is good for coffee, but because coffee is good for science, too. “Many discoveries and knowledge are generated after having a cup of coffee.”