Chapter 67 - Instant Coffee and Protection against DNA Damage

Abstract

Coffee, including instant coffee, is a very common beverage in the world nowadays. The effects of coffee consumption on human health have been studied extensively. However, although coffee has been a quite popular beverage for many years, its exact effects on human health remain unknown. Some studies suggested that coffee consumption lowers the risk of some types of cancers. On the other hand, other studies provided negative or inverse conclusions for the effects of coffee consumption on human health. To analyze the effects of instant coffee consumption on cancer risk, we examined the association between instant coffee consumption and the generation of oxidative DNA damage, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoguanine, 8-oxo-Gua). 8-Oxo-Gua is a major form of oxidative DNA damage, and is believed to play a key role in carcinogenesis. In our study, no significant differences between water drinking and instant coffee drinking were observed, in terms of 8-oxo-Gua generation in the liver, suggesting that instant coffee consumption had little, if any, effect on the risk of liver cancer due to oxidative stresses. In this chapter, we describe our previously published data and summarize the recent findings about coffee consumption and protection against DNA damage.