Coffee -- yea or nay?

[dreamcat]

I'm starting the triple tx with Incivik on Tuesday morning -- that alone is a big YIKES!  

I like to start my day with coffee, but it's not an all day thing -- typically, just 2 cups.  But I find that until I have my coffee, I can't really eat anything.  I'm unaware of any contraindications of caffeine on the medications, but don't want to make things difficult.  

Should I be weaning myself from my coffee?  Any comments?

Can you tell I'm getting nervous???  

Thanks,
Karen

[Aaron57]

These are amazing study results Ev , however like all studies .. I take them all with a grain of salt ... or ... with reserve  ...
We tend to read the positive aspects of studies and think they apply to everyone .... and ignore the ratio of those whom the studies don't ....  that being said ... and i am a coffee drinker from way back ... I am drinking more coffee than ever before ha ha ha !  

Hope you guy's are doing good & wish you and Joe the best !

[evangelin]

"Although patients with hepatitis C virus infection who drank the most coffee (3 or more cups daily) also consumed the most alcohol and cigarettes, they had slower progression of fibrotic liver disease. Hazard ratio for progression of liver disease was 1.21 for no coffee daily to 0.53 for 3 or more cups daily (95% confidence intervals; P = .0005). "
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That is fairly amazing.
Ev

[Aaron57]

Ooops meant to include this part of the study ...

Although patients with hepatitis C virus infection who drank the most coffee (3 or more cups daily) also consumed the most alcohol and cigarettes, they had slower progression of fibrotic liver disease. Hazard ratio for progression of liver disease was 1.21 for no coffee daily to 0.53 for 3 or more cups daily (95% confidence intervals; P = .0005).
    * Those who consumed 3 or more cups of coffee daily had less evidence of liver damage than did other participants with hepatitis C virus infection, with less steatosis on biopsy, and significantly lower bilirubin levels, α-fetoprotein levels, and aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratios.

CME/CE Test

[Aaron57]

CL , I don't believe your approach was included in the HALT-C study ... that was the study including the questionnaire on coffee consumption ...  

If nothing else .. doing 3 or 4 shot in one cup .. would make the morning pretty zippy ......

"The questionnaire did not ask about the strength of the coffee, what people put in their coffee, or whether people drank caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee, Freedman said. About 85% of coffee consumed nationally is caffeinated. Freedman said that hypotheses about what part of coffee is beneficial to the liver are "pretty speculative" although "maybe the best data is for caffeine." Of the 1000-plus compounds in coffee, several of them may be influencing liver disease, he said."

Cheers

[curiouslady1]

OK I might have missed this.  Will 3 or 4 shots of expresso in one cup of coffee do as well?  Perhaps with a tad of skim milk to cut the flavor a little :) ?

[Livinontheedge]

THATS A BIG WOW !   GREAT NEWS !  COFFEE FOR BREAKFAST ! YEAH :)

[ribman]

4-5 cups a day,no way im giving it up.gave up drugs, alcohol, and fast women,(with the exception of my wife)14 years ago.i read the study before treatment and it actually made me drink more coffee and consider stopping for refills more often,

[Aaron57]

Definitely Yea ! ! : )

1 liter per day , hot , black .. no marshmallow , chocolate or other additives : )

[shanro]

Best info I read all day!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bali05]

yea  :-)

[flcyclist]

I was very pleased to see the additional benefits from drinking coffee, since I'd have a hard time giving up coffee cold turkey.  It's so easy to get absorbed into all these studies while we try to maximize out efforts.  I use a small amount of milk/sugar and won't lose any sleep over it.  Try not to overthink this stuff too much.  

[dreamcat]

I guess I'll just take it day by day, and see how I feel.  My coffee intake is generally 2 cups a day -- with coconut milk and stevia (or sugar)... I can't imagine in those small doses it will do much one way or another...

Thanks for all your comments.  I have to be honest, tho, when I see the responses with the studies and statistics, etc., I get more confused than ever!  

Karen

[MagTX]

Since the studies each determined something different about milk, non dairy creamer and sugar I think if someone is drinking coffee to get the full benefits then it just best to drink it black.

Good luck to Joe!  I  really hope he get to SVR his next time around with the new meds and with the 4 cups of coffee.  Thanks for sharing with us, I had no idea these coffee studies were out there.

Maggie

[evangelin]

I don't know if this actually makes a difference or not because I don't think the substance within coffee that is helpful to TX or liver disease has been established.  This study below indicates that the milk interfered but I read another that said non-dairy creamer interfered but not milk.  Sugar was a problem in that study too.  I really don't know.  I think the above study did not look at that question.  I wish they had.  I'm hoping Joe can drink most of his coffee black while on TX but the acid gets hard to bear with the extra acid the Riba causes.  When I see "doubled response"  I get really interested.  Could it really be that helpful?  I at least hope Joe can tolerate 4 cups a day during the Victrelis lead in.
I love extra credit points.  :>)  Joe needs them all.
Ev
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------J Agric Food Chem. 2011 Jul 27;59(14):7925-31. Epub 2011 Jun 15.
Effect of simultaneous consumption of milk and coffee on chlorogenic acids' bioavailability in humans.
Duarte GS, Farah A.
SourceUniversidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

Abstract
Different studies have shown that milk may interact with polyphenols and affect their bioavailability in humans. The present study investigated the effect of the simultaneous consumption of coffee and milk on the urinary excretion of chlorogenic acids (CGA) and metabolites. Subjects were submitted to consumption of water, instant coffee (609 mmol of CGA) dissolved in water, and instant coffee dissolved in whole milk. Urine was collected for 24 h after consumption of each treatment for analysis of CGA and metabolites by HPLC/LC-MS. The amount of CGA and metabolites recovered after consumption of combined coffee-milk (40% ± 27%) was consistently lower in all subjects compared to that of coffee alone (68% ± 20%). Concluding, the simultaneous consumption of milk and coffee may impair the bioavailability of coffee CGA in humans.

PMID:21627318[PubMed - in process] Publication TypesPublication TypesResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
LinkOut - more resourcesFull Text SourcesAmerican Chemical SocietyOhioLINK Electronic Journal CenterSwets Information Services

[can-do-man]

Yes coffee is said to be good for the liver, just remember moderation though is the key as to much could cause dehydration, something these meds already causes. So make sure you also drink plenty of water......... Good luck

[lynda607]

It doesn't matter what you add to your coffee.  20 tsps of sugar wouldn't be a good idea but you can add anything you want and it does not reduce the benefit.

[MagTX]

Does the study say whether it was only black coffee that the participants drank or was it ok to add something to it?  How should someone that's treating be drinking theirs...I like to add a little almond milk to mine, although black is still ok.too.  

Thanks for posting..

Maggie

[evangelin]

  
June 7, 2011

Drinking Coffee Doubles Hep C Treatment Responses



Advanced hepatitis C patients with chronic liver disease may benefit from drinking coffee during treatment, according to a new study published in the June 2011 issue of Gastroenterology. Patients who received pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment and who drank three or more cups of coffee per day were two times more likely to respond to treatment, compared with those who didn't drink coffee.

“Coffee intake has been associated with a lower level of liver enzymes, reduced progression of chronic liver disease and reduced incidence of liver cancer,” said Neal Freedman, PhD, MPH, of the National Cancer Institute and lead author of this study. “Although we observed an independent association between coffee intake and virologic response to treatment, this association needs replication in other studies.”


Among those who didn't drink coffee in the study, 46 percent had an early virologic response; 26 percent had undetectable HCV levels at week 20; 22 percent had undetectable virus at week 48; and 11 percent had a sustained virologic response (SVR). In contrast, the corresponding proportions for those who drank three or more cups of coffee per day were 73 percent, 52 percent, 49 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Because patients in this particular study had previously failed interferon therapy, it is not clear whether the results can be generalized to other patient populations. Future studies among patients with less advanced disease, those who are first-time treatment takers, or who are being treated with newer antiviral agents are needed.