Study: Coffee may help ward off oral cancers

(ABC) -- If you’re a heavy coffee drinker, all that extra “joe” may be doing more than just keeping you awake.

A study published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology says it may also be keeping you safe from cancers of the mouth and throat.

Researchers examined coffee-drinking habits in nearly one million men and women.

Those who drank at least four cups of caffeinated coffee a day had about half the risk of dying from mouth and throat cancer as those who drank no coffee or seldom drank it.

And that held true even among those who used tobacco and alcohol, the strongest risk factors for oral cancers.

The authors say they don’t know exactly how coffee might work to protect against these cancers and they add that there’s not enough evidence yet to recommend that you start drinking coffee – or more of it – for cancer prevention.