Coffee tied to lower cirrhosis, liver cancer risk

Clinical takeaway: Caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee may offer a simple, low-risk habit to support liver health, particularly for those at risk.

Whether coffee actually protects the liver or just marks a healthier lifestyle has been difficult to settle from intake data alone. Here, researchers paired self-reported consumption with liver MRI and plasma proteomics in a large cohort. All three measures aligned with more coffee tracking with fewer poor outcomes, as well as imaging and protein measures of a healthier liver.

Coffee is among the most widely consumed beverages, so even a modest liver benefit would have broad reach. Prior studies have tied coffee intake to lower fibrosis and liver cancer, but the mechanism and type of coffee behind the benefit remained unsettled. Two features of this study speak to those gaps: decaffeinated coffee performed about as well as caffeinated, and protein data start to offer a plausible biological readout.

At five or more cups a day, cirrhosis risk was 32% lower, hepatocellular carcinoma 47% lower, and liver-related death 42% lower, each relative to the lowest level of use. Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee showed similar associations, and the benefit held even among those adding sugar or artificial sweeteners.

In terms of imaging, higher intake corresponded to lower hepatic fat, iron, and fibroinflammation. Proteomic profiling pointed the same way: higher levels of proteins tied to hepatocyte synthesis and lower levels of fibrogenic and macrophage-activation markers.

Researchers analyzed 354,957 UK Biobank participants without cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma at baseline. Coffee intake, type, and additives were captured by questionnaire, and cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver-related death were tracked through linked records over a median 13-year follow-up. A sub-cohort underwent liver MRI and a separate sub-cohort had plasma proteomic profiling. Models were adjusted for demographic, behavioral, metabolic, and genetic factors.

The clearest next test is whether the protein signals hold up as a mechanism, since they point to specific fibrogenic and synthesis pathways that could be probed directly. The decaf result also invites work on which coffee compounds, beyond caffeine, carry the effect.

Source: Kim HS, et al. (2026 Jul 1) Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. Coffee Consumption and Improved Liver Outcomes: Clinical, Imaging, and Proteomic Evidence From the UK Biobank