A white cup of coffee (with beans on the side) emits a heart-shaped smoke ring. Coffee reduces the risk of some cancers.
Coffee reduces the risk of some cancers. Adobe Stock Photos.

Decaf Drinkers: Are You Missing Out on More Than Just Caffeine?

Michael Hunter, MD
BeingWell
Published in
5 min readApr 21, 2024

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DO YOU THINK YOU ARE BEING HEALTHIER by choosing decaf? I suggest sitting down (with a cup of coffee) for my answer.

I don’t tolerate caffeine well. At all.

So, I use decaffeinated coffee as a guilt-free way to enjoy a daily espresso brew without the jittery side effects of caffeine.

A person pours milk to create a beautiful design for a caffe latte.
Photo by Jess Eddy on Unsplash

TL; DR. Takeaway Message

For the too long, didn’t read (TL; DR) crowd out there; I want to get to the takeaway message immediately.

As we swap regular roasts for decaf, are we missing out on some of the unexpected perks accompanying the buzz?

Fortunately, most human studies indicate that regular and decaf coffee offer similar cancer risk reductions.

A shout out to Joyce, one of my dear readers who asked whether she, a decaff consumer like me, got cancer risk reduction from her consumption, prompting today’s writing.

Coffee Consumption Raises Cancer Risk?

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Michael Hunter, MD
BeingWell

I have degrees from Harvard, Yale, and Penn. I am a radiation oncologist in the Seattle area. You may find me regularly posting at www.newcancerinfo.com