Coffee and tea may reduce the risk of serious liver damage in people who drink alcohol too much， are overweight， or have too much iron in the blood.
Researchers analyzed the records of 9，849 participants whose coffee and tea intake① was evaluated② and who were followed for about 19 years. The study showed that those who drank more than two cups of coffee or tea per day developed chronic liver disease at half the rate of those who drank less than one cup each day. Coffee provided no protection to people at risk of liver disease from other causes， such as viral infections③.
Caffeine seemed to hold the key. While it is too soon to encourage patients to increase their coffee and tea intake， the findings of the study potentially offer people at high-risk for developing chronic④ liver disease a practical way to decrease that risk.
① intaken. 吸收； 引入口；通风口
② evaluatevt. 对……评价；为……鉴定； 估……的价
③ infectionn. 传染；侵染；传染病
④ chronicadj. (病)慢性的；(人)久病的；长期的，不断的
咖啡和茶
对于那些饮酒过量、体重超标或是血液里铁含量过高的这3种人来说，经常饮用咖啡和茶可能有助于降低其出现肝脏严重损伤的危险。
研究人员对9849名参与者每日咖啡和茶的饮用量进行了记录，并对他们进行了大约19年的跟踪调查。研究结果显示，与那些每天喝咖啡或茶不足一杯的人相比，每天喝两杯以上咖啡或茶的人患上慢性肝脏疾病的概率只是前者的一半。对于那些因病毒感染等其它原因而处于罹患肝脏疾病危险的人来说，咖啡不会向他们提供任何保护作用。
咖啡因看上去似乎真的可以在这些方面起作用。但是现在就鼓励那些病人加大咖啡及茶的摄入量显得为时尚早，这项研究的结论只是为那些可能患上慢性肝病的高危人群提供一种减轻此种危险的潜在方法。
