14 DAY TRIAL // Among the multitude of studies revealing the good and the bad effects of caffeine, here comes a Rutgers study showing that coffee and exercising are the secret of a healthy skin. Regular exercise is regarded as a healthy lifestyle for many people, but coffee consume is not. However, apparently the combination could prevent sun-induced skin cancer.
In the US, sunlight-induced skin cancer is the main cancer type, with over 1 million new cases annually.
The skin cancer inducing ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation could be stopped by moderate caffeine intake and exercise, as these two factors seem to inhibit precancerous cells, with DNA broken by UVB-rays.
Hairless mice, with skin exposed to the sun, were tested while one group drank caffeinated water (the human equivalent of 1-2 coffee cups daily); another group voluntarily exercised on a running wheel; and a third set both drank and ran. A fourth control group didn't exercise and didn't drink caffeine, either.
All of the individuals were exposed to UVB radiation generating lamps. Mice's skin cells experimented some level of programmed cell death (apoptosis) in the DNA-damaged cells of all four groups, but the degree of apoptosis varied within the group. "If apoptosis takes place in a sun-damaged cell, its progress toward cancer will be aborted," said co-author Allan Conney, director of Rutgers' Cullman Laboratory.
The degree of apoptosis was assessed through physical changes in the cells but also by using chemical markers, like caspase-3, an enzyme linked to killing DNA-damaged cells, and p53, a tumor suppressor. "The differences between the groups in the formation of UVB-induced apoptotic cells - those cells derailed from the track leading to skin cancer - were quite dramatic," Conney said.
The caffeine drinkers displayed an about 95 % rise in UVB-induced apoptosis, the exercising mice a 120 % increase, while the mice that both ingested caffeine and exercising an increase of 400 %; all compared to the control group. "The most dramatic and obvious difference between the groups came from the caffeine-drinking runners, a difference that can likely be attributed to some kind of synergy," Conney said.
The clear reasons for such an effect are not known. "We need to dig deeper into how the combination of caffeine and exercise is exerting its influence at the cellular and molecular levels, identifying the underlying mechanisms. With an understanding of these mechanisms we can then take this to the next level, going beyond mice in the lab to human trials. With the stronger levels of UVB radiation evident today and an upward trend in the incidence of skin cancer among Americans, there is a premium on finding novel ways to protect our bodies from sun damage.", Conney said.