Research shows drinking more than 4 cups of coffee daily reduces the risk of multiple sclerosis.

The research was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. Coffee has a lot of health benefits. It’s able to reduce the production of inflammatory chemicals by the immune system, and this is how researchers believe it helps to protect against MS.

These findings came as a result of research on two large study samples: one from Sweden including 1,620 adults with MS and a control group of 2,788 healthy people, and another one in the United States involving 1,159 people with MS and 1,172 healthy controls. The results showed a consistently greater risk of multiple sclerosis among individuals drinking fewer cups of coffee every day in both studies. The more coffee a person drank, the lower their risk of MS. This was an observational study, therefore definitive conclusions cannot be drawn, but coffee drinkers will nonetheless be pleased to hear this news.

Multiple sclerosis is a complex autoimmune disease with several risk factors. These include genetic predisposition, leaky gut, vitamin D deficiency, viral infections and several others. If you are a coffee fan you are best off avoiding cow’s milk and sugar in there because both have the potential to raise inflammation in your body. Inflammation can cause pain and fatigue and will worsen all autoimmune conditions.

For more information on helping to treat and prevent autoimmune disease see our book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation.

Reference: Hedstrom A, Mowry E, Gianfrancesco M, Shao X, Schaefer C, Shen L, et al. High consumption of coffee is associated with decreased multiple sclerosis risk; results from two independent studies. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 2016