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A cup of coffee a day may keep retinal damage away

Coffee drinkers, rejoice! Aside from java’s energy jolt, food scientists say you may reap another health benefit from a daily cup of joe: prevention of deteriorating eyesight and possible blindness from retinal degeneration due to glaucoma, aging and diabetes.

Raw coffee is, on average, just 1 percent caffeine, but it contains 7 to 9 percent chlorogenic acid (CLA), a strong antioxidant that prevents retinal degeneration in mice, according to a Cornell study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (December 2013).

The retina is a thin tissue layer on the inside, back wall of the eye with millions of light-sensitive cells and other nerve cells that receive and organize visual information. It is also one of the most metabolically active tissues, demanding high levels of oxygen and making it prone to oxidative stress. The lack of oxygen and production of free radicals leads to tissue damage and loss of sight.

In the study, mice eyes were treated with nitric oxide, which creates oxidative stress and free radicals, leading to retinal degeneration, but mice pretreated with CLA developed no retinal damage.

The study is “important in understanding functional foods, that is, natural foods that provide beneficial health effects,” said Chang Y. Lee, professor of food science and the study’s senior author. Holim Jang, a graduate student in Lee’s lab, is the paper’s lead author. Lee’s lab has been working with Sang Hoon Jung, a researcher at the Functional Food Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea. “Coffee is the most popular drink in the world, and we are understanding what benefit we can get from that,” Lee said.

Previous studies have shown that coffee also cuts the risk of such chronic diseases as Parkinson’s, prostate cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and age-related cognitive declines.

Since scientists know that CLA and its metabolites are absorbed in the human digestive system, the next step for this research is to determine whether drinking coffee facilitates CLA to cross a membrane known as the blood-retinal barrier. If drinking coffee proves to deliver CLA directly into the retina, doctors may one day recommend an appropriate brew to prevent retinal damage. Also, if future studies further prove CLA’s efficacy, then synthetic compounds could also be developed and delivered with eye drops. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology funded the study.




The material in this press release comes from the originating research organization. Content may be edited for style and length. Want more? Sign up for our daily email.

43 thoughts on “A cup of coffee a day may keep retinal damage away”

  1. This article displays the great value for drinking coffee as opposed to how people usually go on about the negative affects of the drink.

    What I find most interesting about this article is that it states the various other desieses which coffee could lower the risk of contracting, such as prostate cancer which is the leading killer of men in the US.

    furthermore as coffee is seen to possibly reduce the risk of glaucoma, and could thus be a replacement for medical marijuana as marijuana is illegal outside of medical practice.

  2. Finally I found something that I can use to fight back whenever someone tells me that drinking coffee is bad for my health! This article is amazing and I’m so thankful that I can stop feeling bad for my body everytime I pick up a cup of steamy coffee. I do agree however that too much of a good thing ( in this case coffee) can be bad, for example the high caffeine content can give you heart problems and drinking too much coffee can stain your teeth, but for me the good still outweighs the bad. Also the chlorogenic acid (CLA) found in coffee can be a major tool in weightloss and in building muscle, that is why you can purchase CLA capsules from brands like USN. This article is what every coffee addict has been waiting for.

  3. Wow!!This evidence is pretty solid with respect to chronic diseases. Recently my sister told me that the caffeine would give me diabetes at our family gathering. It seems that there may be storm brewing against coffee. This evidence made me to think otherwise. Since decaffeinated coffee is also associated with low risk of developing diabetes, it is likely that phytonutrient in the coffee are preventing development of diabetes. I personally recommend decaffeinated coffee because caffeine can raise blood pressure which can lead to heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. Moreover, I would like to add that tea has a high antioxidant than coffee. Furthermore, tea consumption has been associated with low risk for developing many cancers and inflammatory conditions, where coffee is okay and tea better.

  4. Another fascinating article I have found in this blog. The fact that coffee can actually “benefit” us sounds very interesting to me. Yet, I’m not convinced to drink it in daily routine. This article provided an excellent explanation to how we can benefit from drinking coffee but none of the possible harmful outcomes are mentioned. This positive information was discovered recently and majority of us were unaware of this fact. This means scientists can, at any time even tomorrow, discover new, unknown harmful effects of coffee.

    We humans are very eager for new discoveries and are also easily influenced. I do not think it is worth changing or concluding one’s diet plan according to a single research.

  5. This is mind blowing! Is it in fact true that in every cloud their is a silver lining as coffee has been to the lab, and examined countless times and often bad was found as a result of coffee. Research has shown that 7 out of 10 people will in their life time suffer from retinal problems so this finding will help curb this issue. Nevertheless it has been shown that retinal problems do not affect vision very much. Do scientist interested in finding cures for retinal damage know why coffee is our hero? If they do are they working on what causes the curb in retinal damage in order to get a cure that will be faster than having the burden of drinking coffee?

  6. An interesting discovery that will no doubt promote the drinking of coffee, with more research as stated in the article one day the drinking of coffee will be prescribed as a treatment to certain health problems but more research should be done to ascertain whether coffee has any detrimental affects other then possibly causing you to be hyper active and staining your teeth. Of course i still believe that coffee should be taken in moderation even with the current known benefits out weighing the known detriments as the age-old saying of “too much of a good thing could become a bad thing” might hold true to even this.

  7. This was indeed interesting to read. We always hear about the negative effects of coffee and how it is bad for you, but we never hear about the good in it. People seem to be blinded by the fact that coffee contains caffeine, which is an important fact but it is not the only one. People can actually benefit from drinking coffee more than they could lose. In this new day and age, with technology and more people sitting in front of computer screens, the intake of coffee could even prevent the damage caused, and could help with more of the retinal problems we have in the eyes. It is interesting to know that coffee and what it contains can actually be beneficial in decreasing the risks of chronic diseases, which might actually take us a step further and might help us find cures and preventions for these chronic diseases.
    I think I’ll have that cup of coffee now.

  8. Wow, what an interesting article! There was a point where I felt guilty about drinking coffee because studies show that coffee contain caffeine which is bad for our health but this article has come to my relief as they say that a cup of coffee may keep retinal damage away. What an informative article it is, I’m impressed.

  9. All along I thought that coffee contains too much caffeine but now I know that is only 1%. Most of the people who consume a lot of coffee find it hard to spent a day without drinking it, in other words is addictive and increase the level of stress.

  10. Wow! Here I am feeling guilty for drinking too much coffee. I am addicted to coffee as I drink much while studying and it keeps me awake while burning the midnight oil. My parents tried making me feel guilty by talking about my health in the long run, but seems like my eye sight will benefit in the long run.

  11. One apple a day keeps the doctor away.Is this really true with coffee? It is not recommendable to drink caffeine everyday as anything too much is bad for your health.Yes it does have a benefit to drinking the coffee but anything good has bad to it so it is better to consume small amounts of caffeine than getting yourself addicted thinking your expanding your own life-span. u14018625

  12. This is some interesting fact. I thought caffeine was not good for our bodies, little did I know that coffee actually contained a small amount of caffeine. I still beg to differ cause coffee is still no good. And because it helps prevent one disease does not mean it cant be the cause of others.

  13. What an interesting find! Should be good news to all the caffeine/coffee addicts of the world. Who knew that coffee had such good properties, especially considering that so many other sources and research support the notion that coffee is bad for us. I guess like everything else it has both good and bad properties. I believe that more research should be done on both the good and bad properties of coffee, as there is a lot of contradicting evidence.

  14. This research into the possible benefits of coffee excites me as most people do i enjoy a good cup of joe. it is very interesting to know that my daily cup of coffee could be aiding in keeping my eyesight in good condition. it is incredible to think that coffee which has been seen as “bad for you” may in fact have health benefits that could prove to be very helpful in our future sight. Finally the glory of coffee is being seen in the world of science and is not only being reported as having negative effects on one’s health but now the possibilities of positive effects. I am very interested in the future results of these tests while enjoying a cup of coffee have the possible assurance of maintained eyesight!!!

  15. WOW!!Who would have thought that coffee might have an incredible benefit after it had always been known to be bad for the brain,neurons etc.’monster turning into a hero’. I guess the saying that ‘too much of everything is not good applies here,there’s clearly no damage in taking the acceptable amount of coffee daily.Research shows that it can relieve retinal damage if taken in safe amounts.With all the negative impacts that were found about coffee,it makes it impossible to accept that it can be helpful too.

  16. There is a lot of controversy whether coffee is a beneficial beverage or just another addictive drink. If this new information is reliable then this can be very helpful to a lot of people. If you think about the amount of people that wear glasses or are in need of glasses then this can be good new for them and for the future generation as it will decrease the risk of blindness and slow down the process of retinal deterioration. This will not only decrease the amount of people needing glasses but might also decrease the amount of car accidents over time as the eye sight of drivers will improve. Another thing to think about is the amount of deaths due to diabetes, prostate cancer and Parkinson’s will be decreased which may increase the life span of the population. But I also agree with Adrian (14050162) and koketso molepo(13373201) that this information must be more researched, in ways such like the points mentioned by 13140346, and the other negative facts about coffee be must be out proven before this information can be deemed reliable. Although if this information is reliable then researchers could try to incorporate chlorogenic acid (CLA) into our daily diet. Then if this can be done then won’t this help blind people to see?

  17. Drinking coffee daily is not that harmful to one’s health and the recent research mentioned in this article agrees with this. Research done over the past years as well have portrayed more benefits of drinking coffee daily than health deterioration risks.

    In a study of about 130 000 Kaiser Permanente health plan members, people who drank coffee daily were 20% less likely to be hospitalized for abnormal health rhythms than non-drinkers. Coffee does not only have the potential of preventing retinal damage but also has other benefits such as reducing the symptoms of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, reducing the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and also it is good for one’s liver particularly if alcohol is consumed. The caffeine that people worry about, there is only 1 percent of it in coffee which cannot do that much damage.

    Many people may disagree and think that it is a suicide mission but they are clueless as it is harmless if only a few cups are consumed daily, and as for coffee drinkers like me it is another good excuse to drink it daily.

  18. i disagree, studies have shown that drinking a cup of coffee regularly can be harmful as, one would compare drinking coffee to smoking cigarettes. it’s true that one cup might be helpful but we should bare in mind that coffee contains caffeine and its easy for a person to be addicted since well they have seen how it brings positive effects to their brains.

  19. This hypothesis-generating study is great news for coffeeaholics who will delight should this association between coffee intake and retinal functions be proven correct in humans, given that findings in rats cannot necessarily be extrapolated to humans. Consequently, I agree with Nicole (14025664) that many questions remain unanswered and it cannot be recommended to increase coffee intake based on this study alone. Some aspects that require proving include: firstly, the amount of chlorogenic acid (CLA) required to prevent retinal deterioration in humans; secondly, the quantity of coffee that the human would have to consume to achieve this beneficial effect; and thirdly, the exact relationship between coffee and CLA given that the mice were given CLA and not coffee (there are other chemicals in coffee that could influence its effect on the retina and the general health of the individual positively or negatively). This study is a good start for further research.

  20. Its hard to believe that there are so many sources that would argue that coffee is in fact “bad for you”. It is true that a single cup a day is not too much of a concern but regardless, dentists despise of it, it causes an increased risk of miscarriage in pregnant woman, and even though coffee is only 1% caffeine, one can still become slightly addicted to it can they not? still interesting to see that such studies are being conducted on something as simple as our morning cup of coffee.

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