By Laura Geggel, Washington Post

Whether they drank decaf or regular, people who consumed large quantities of coffee daily had lower levels of abnormal liver enzymes, a new study finds. This suggests that a chemical in coffee other than caffeine may help the liver, the researchers said.

Other studies have found that drinking coffee is associated with lower risks of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer.

To answer the decaf question, researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess the health of Americans. In this survey, not only are participants interviewed, they also undergo physical examinations including blood tests.

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