Caffeine Lowers Skin Cancer Risk, Study Finds
When it comes to protecting your skin, just brew it!
Or so states a new study by Rutgers, which predicts coffee-based sunscreen will be the best way to protect skin in the near future.
Through studies conducted with mice, scientist found that caffeine applied directly to the skin helps prevent damaging ultraviolet light from causing skin cancer: When caffeine was topically applied to the regular mice, they had 72 percent fewer squamos cell carcinomas, a form of skin cancer.
Supposedly, caffeine guards against certain skin cancers at the molecular level by inhibiting a protein enzyme in the skin, known as ATR.
“Caffeine might become a weapon in prevention because it inhibits ATR and also acts as a sunscreen and directly absorbs damaging UV light,” said Allan Conney, a director at the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research.
Although many prior studies have linked coffee/caffeine consumption with a decreased risk of certain skin cancers, this is the first time it’s been proven to have an effect when applied topically.
Further research is needed before we all start coating ourselves in coffee but, in the meantime, go ahead and make it a double.
In other beauty news, find out how Botox may help treat asthma.
