Several studies have been published lately, suggesting that  the caffeine in coffee reduces the risk of various types of cancer, and also may help avoid its recurrence.

In particular, those who drink at least four cups of coffee daily have a 20 percent lower risk of skin cancer (malignant melanoma) than those drinking the least, according to a recent research by the US National Cancer Institute.

For men who drink over six cups of coffee per day, the risk of getting a fatal cancer is reduced by 60 percent, while three cups a day diminish it by 30 percent, according to the 2011 study, also by the National Cancer Institute.

“ Caffeine turns off the signal paths to breast cancer cells. This results in slower cell proliferation and increased cell death,” said Ann Rosendahl, a researcher at Lund University and co-author of the study.

The study began two years ago, when scientists at Lund University showed that a couple of cups of coffee per day could help avoid the recurrence of breast cancer.

The pattern was noticeable especially in those women who were treated with the anti-hormone medication Tamoxifen.

“For the women treated with tamoxifen and who drank at least two cups of coffee a day, the risk of relapse is almost half that of those who drank a small quantity of coffee or no coffee at all,”  according to Rosendahl.

It turns out that caffeine has an impact on the signaling pathways that cancer needs to grow.

"We have now gone down into the cellular level and thus gained a greater understanding of the underlying causes,”  Rosendahl explains.

As many as 1,100 women took part in the study, of whom over 500 were taking the drug Tamoxifen.  

Dr Adolf Klenk, who is a leading international expert on hair loss, recently visited South Africa to promote his discovery that caffeine stimulates hair growth. Here is an interview he gave there:

An employee of a German "cosmeceutical" company, the Dr Wolff Group, he discovered that caffeine protected hair roots against hereditary and menopausal hair loss in men and women; and it also facilitates growth. Based on this discovery the Wolff group now produces caffeine-based shampoos for men and women. 

Up to 70 percent of men suffer from male pattern baldness (MPB). Hair loss is one of the things men dread most about getting older. (The other great fear is impotence.)

To most men a full head of hair is a sign of health, youthfulness and virility, and the first signs of hair loss along the sides of the forehead and on the crown of the head can cause strong reactions like depression, social withdrawal, even loss of self-esteem.
  
Women are affected by hair loss to a much lesser degree than men, but it can lead to similar problems like depression and loss of self-confidence.  

A study by the Institute for Dermatology at Lübeck University which was published in the British Journal of Dermatology found that caffeine promotes hair follicle growth by influencing important proteins that regulate cell growth.

More specifically, caffeine counteracts the growth inhibitory effect of testosterone (the “male” hormone) on cyclic adenosine triphosphate (cATP), which provides the energy necessary to keep hair roots healthy and to stimulate growth. Interestingly, this only happens in the scalp, not in any part of the body.

We'll do our own testing with CaffeinAll™, by adding it to a shampoo base. Stay tuned!

The federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has finally determined that three to five coffee drinks a day is good for you, because there is scientific evidence that caffeine helps stave off heart disease, Type-2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases. 

The new recommendations take into account recent scientific studies that provide new insights into what constitutes a healthy diet. The Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture are expected to move quickly to approve the committee’s recommendations.

The committee also recommends that Americans eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains — a common-sense approach. But before declaring open season at the supermarket, perhaps the most important news was in the guidelines that remain. What it may have given back to Americans in dark roast, it continues to take away in added-sugar intake, particularly in sweetened beverages.

The committee found such a strong connection between added sugar and obesity, Type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease that its recommendations go far beyond personal intake to policy prescriptions.  It actually advocates:

1. Beverage taxes -  because there is a shortage of taxes, isn't there?
   
2. Reducing the marketing of sugary drinks to children and the availability of added sugars in school and youth settings.
   
3. Running  campaigns to convince young adults to cut sugar consumption. Good luck with that!
   

Let's look at the bright side - they've proven caffeine (in moderation, up to 400 mg/day) to be a health saving product. Who can ask for anything more from the feds?