Dr. Rhonda Patrick

it actively reduces DNA damage.

This is one of the fundamental triggers of cancer.

A compelling randomized controlled trial demonstrated that people drinking dark roast coffee daily had a 23% reduction in their DNA double-stranded breaks compared to water alone.

Now, DNA double-stranded breaks are among the most severe forms of genetic damage.

To give you context,

This is the type of damage you typically see from ionizing radiation, the kind that directly threatens your genetic code and your chromosomes, the structures that house your DNA.

And this is not just the DNA integrity at stake.

Chromosomal damage directly accelerates the shortening of telomeres.

These are the tiny caps that protect our chromosomes from damage, our DNA that's packaged in our chromosomes.

And telomeres naturally shorten with age, but damage accelerates this process dramatically.

And once the telomeres become critically short, our cells then enter a state known as senescence.

This is kind of a cellular aging that not only drives the aging process itself, but also greatly increases our risk for chronic diseases, including cancer.

By actively reducing DNA double stranded breaks, coffee may not only protect against cancer directly, but also may help maintain telomere length, thereby potentially slowing cellular aging and preserving genomic stability.

And in fact, studies have found that regular coffee drinkers do have longer telomeres compared to non-coffee drinkers.

Mechanistically, coffee triggers our cells to activate something called NRF2.

This is a master cellular switch that ramps up our body's own antioxidant defenses, including glutathione.

This is enhancing our natural capacity for DNA repair.

But coffee's protective effects go even broader.

It also influences liver metabolism, hormone regulation, and inflammation, all critical in preventing cancers that thrive on metabolic dysfunction or hormone imbalance.

Interestingly, decaffeinated coffee consistently shows similar protective effects, which strongly suggests that beneficial compounds beyond caffeine, such as polyphenols and the melanoidins, are primarily driving these anti-cancer benefits.