You might want to refill your coffee mug before you dive in here.
While coffee consumption has long been linked to improved liver health, a team of researchers has uncovered new biological evidence that explains why it can lower your risk of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver-related death. According to the study, published earlier this month in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, a team of researchers at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University in Los Angeles concluded that “higher coffee intake” was associated with favorable indicators of liver health.
The team of researchers zeroed in on people who drank five or more cups of coffee each day. Compared with people who don’t drink coffee at all, these coffee fanatics had a 32% lower risk of cirrhosis, a 47% lower risk of liver cancer, and a 42% lower risk of liver-related death.
But the researchers found that people don’t need their coffee cup to runneth over in order to benefit, as drinking even a more moderate amount helps—in fact, the strongest liver benefits were associated with a daily coffee fix in the range of three to four cups per day. That’s on par with the three cups per day that Americans are consuming on average, according to a 2025 study by the National Coffee Association.
“Our findings support moderate coffee consumption for people who already enjoy and tolerate it well,” Ju Dong Yang, a senior study author and medical director of the Liver Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai, said in a statement. “However, we would not recommend that someone begin drinking coffee solely for liver protection based on this study alone.”
COFFEE’S WIDE-RANGING BENEFITS
As the largest human organ, the liver serves many vital functions including filtering toxins, bacteria, and other waste from your blood. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis accounts for more than 50,000 deaths in the U.S. each year and ranks ninth among the leading causes of death, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While the latest study examined the biological mechanisms behind coffee’s association with better liver health, other studies have shown that coffee benefits other organs and has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, heart failure, and stroke, Raffi Karagozian, a transplant hepatologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told Women’s Health.
Biologically active compounds in coffee—regardless of whether caffeinated or decaffeinated—get the credit for these wide-ranging antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic benefits, hepatologist Hyunseok Kim, an assistant professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai and the study’s lead author, told the magazine. “However, the effects can vary depending on the amount consumed, how the coffee is prepared, and an individual’s health conditions.”
MORE RESEARCH COMING
While the findings may be welcomed news to coffee drinkers, the researchers cautioned that coffee isn’t a magic bullet and that people should continue to focus on preventive measures for liver health, such as maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol consumption, and exercising regularly.
What’s more, younger coffee drinkers in particular who load up their iced coffees with a bunch of sweeteners may want to take heed: The researchers concluded that moderate consumption of unsweetened coffee is key for liver disease prevention.
Finally, the research doesn’t end here. The team plans to dive deeper and identify the specific compounds in coffee that are responsible for the protective benefits to the liver, according to Shelly Lu, one of the study’s authors and director of the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Cedars-Sinai.
“Our findings point to biological pathways involving inflammation and scarring and highlight molecular targets that future research can explore to better understand how coffee may influence liver health and who stands to benefit the most,” Lu said in a statement.
