Who doesn’t love a good cup of coffee to get their day started… or maybe 2 or 3 cups of coffee? Downside to drinking that much coffee? It may discolor your pearly whites. Upside? Research has linked coffee to a decreased risk in skin cancer, specifically basal cell carcinoma.

As reported on The Los Angeles Times (10/25, Brown) “Booster Shots” blog, The Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study followed a combined total of 112,897 people over the span of 24 years. Their data showed that “women who drank more than three cups of coffee had a 20% reduction in risk for basal cell carcinoma.”  They also found that men “benefited from a 9% reduction in risk of this type of skin cancer” when they drank three or more cups of joe per day WebMD (10/25, Warner).

Mere coincidence?  The researchers also found that “drinking decaffeinated coffee did not have any effect on skin cancer risk…”  So is caffeine the skin cancer fighting ingredient?  To answer that question, the researchers are now “looking into whether caffeine should be added to sunscreen to increase its effectiveness against skin cancer” WebMD (10/25, Warner).

So… when you’re walking out the door in the morning, remember to slather on the SPF and grab that cup of java!