Is Coffee Good or Bad for Your Liver and Kidneys?
Key takeaways:
Coffee contains caffeine and antioxidants. Antioxidants are responsible for many of coffee’s beneficial effects.
Research suggests coffee is good for your liver. People who drink more coffee are less likely to have chronic liver disease, liver cancer, or fatty liver disease.
Coffee can also be good for your kidney, although the studies aren’t clear-cut. Drinking coffee can lower your risk of kidney stones.
The FDA recommends consuming no more than 400 mg of caffeine per day, which is equal to 3 to 5 cups of coffee.
Table of contents
Is coffee the first thing you reach for to start your day? Join the club! Nearly 7 in 10 people in the U.S. drink coffee every day, according to a 2024 survey. And they don’t stop at just 1 cup — the average daily intake is 3 cups of coffee.
Coffee’s caffeine content makes it a go-to morning drink. As a stimulant, caffeine directly affects your brain, increasing alertness and decreasing fatigue.
But coffee also contains antioxidants. Antioxidants help reduce inflammation in your body by binding free radicals, which cause cell damage. Too many free radicals can lead to premature aging and diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
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Coffee also helps your gut move food through your system faster. This is why some people have a bowel movement shortly after their morning cup.
Let’s take a closer look at how coffee affects your body, with a focus on your liver and kidneys.
How does coffee affect your liver?
Your liver is busy. It performs more than 500 different functions. For example, your liver turns proteins, carbohydrates, and fats from food into energy. It helps you make proteins and chemicals that are important for your bodily functions. And your liver is a powerhouse when it comes to breaking down medications and cleaning waste products from your blood.
With so many different jobs, it’s clearly important to keep your liver healthy. Enter coffee. You already rely on it for a burst of energy, and it turns out that coffee may also help keep your liver healthy.
Researchers are still learning about all the ways that coffee affects your liver health. But there are a few important pathways that stand out:
Antioxidants: Coffee contains antioxidants like chlorogenic acid (CGA), which help your liver break down glucose and prevent fat buildup.
Anti-inflammatory effect: Drinking coffee is associated with lower levels of inflammation in the body. Less inflammation may help prevent certain liver diseases.
Autophagy: Coffee might stimulate autophagy, a process that removes damaged cell parts. This helps cells function better and live longer.
Coffee and health: Coffee’s health benefits extend beyond your liver and kidneys. Learn about coffee’s far-reaching benefits — from better heart health to lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Coffee add-ins: The best way to drink coffee is plain, without added sugar and cream. But you can spruce up your coffee game with healthy add-ins to make the most of your cup of Joe.
Liver health and diet: Learn which foods to eat — and which to avoid — in order to boost your liver health.
Best drinks for kidney health: Some beverages, like beet juice and tea, may improve kidney health. Find out which drinks are best for your kidneys.
Is coffee good for your liver?
Yes, coffee is good for your liver. Its benefits are so widespread that some have called coffee the “magical bean for liver diseases.”
A large 2021 study found that drinking two or more cups of coffee per day is associated with a lower risk of chronic liver disease and liver cancer. For people who already have chronic liver disease, daily coffee consumption can slow down its progression. These effects are similar for all types of coffee — instant, ground, and espresso — as well as both regular and decaf coffee.
Coffee seems to be good for your liver in multiple ways. Drinking coffee regularly is associated with:
Lower liver enzyme levels (elevated liver enzymes can be a sign of liver disease, so normal levels are a good sign of health)
A reduced risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
Less liver disease like fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver
Lower rates of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer
Lower mortality rates in people with chronic liver disease
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How does coffee affect your kidneys?
Like your liver, your kidneys are also busy. They filter waste and extra water from your blood, making urine. They remove acid to keep a healthy balance of water, salt, and minerals in your blood. But that’s not all. Your kidneys also play a major role in regulating blood pressure and keeping your bones healthy.
Coffee seems to have similar effects on your kidneys as it has on your liver, though the research is more mixed. The same pathways that promote liver health — coffee’s antioxidants, anti-inflammatory effects, and autophagy process — also promote kidney health. But coffee’s relationship with your kidneys is a bit more complicated.
One study found that caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea, and soda were associated with worse kidney function in older adults. On the other hand, many studies have found that coffee has a protective effect on the kidneys and can help prevent chronic kidney disease.
So, what’s going on? One reason for this difference might lie in your genes. Some people have a genetic difference that makes them “slow metabolizers” of caffeine. This means it takes their bodies longer to break it down. For people with this gene, drinking more than 3 cups of coffee per day may be associated with high blood pressure and worse kidney function. For those without this gene, drinking plenty of coffee may be more beneficial. More research is needed to fully understand these effects.
Is coffee good for your kidneys?
Overall, there’s good news for coffee drinkers. Most studies show that coffee has protective effects on the kidneys. Drinking coffee is associated with:
A lower risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD)
Better kidney function (less protein loss in your urine)
A lower mortality rate for people with CKD
A reduced risk of kidney stones
For those who already have CKD, the National Kidney Foundation confirms that it’s OK to drink coffee in moderation (up to 3 cups per day). Since the research on coffee and kidneys isn’t fully clear, they don’t recommend drinking coffee specifically to improve kidney function. Still, for most people, coffee in moderation seems to be good for the kidneys.
If a healthcare professional has recommended limiting your daily fluid intake because of CKD, remember to also include the fluid from coffee.
Does drinking too much coffee cause kidney stones?
Simply put, no. As long as you stay hydrated, studies suggest that coffee may actually decrease your risk of kidney stones.
The amount of water you need to stay hydrated differs based on factors like body size, activity level, climate, and other medical conditions. If you’re unsure how much water you should drink, ask a healthcare professional.
Are there health benefits to drinking coffee?
The health benefits of coffee go beyond your liver and kidneys. Studies suggest that drinking coffee — especially unsweetened black coffee — is associated with a decreased risk of:
Death (in general)
Parkinson’s disease
Heart problems
Diabetes
Death from heart disease
Several different types of cancer
Some of these health benefits — like a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease — are specifically linked to the caffeine in coffee. Others, like a lower risk of diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, are found with both regular and decaf coffee.
Most studies found health benefits from drinking 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day. Note that these health benefits come from coffee itself — not from added creamers and sugars. If you don’t like the taste of black coffee, there are healthy ways to spruce it up.
How many cups of coffee should you have a day?
Coffee can be a healthy addition to your diet. But there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing. The FDA recommends a maximum of 400 mg of caffeine daily, as this amount is unlikely to cause negative side effects for most people (see below). But some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others.
An 8-oz cup of coffee contains 80 mg to 100 mg of caffeine. So, the recommended limit is about 4 to 5 cups of coffee per day. Keep in mind that at many restaurants, a “small” coffee is about 12 oz. For specialty coffee drinks, like lattes, the amount of caffeine depends on the number of espresso shots. A single shot of espresso has about 70 mg of caffeine. You can always ask the barista how many shots are in each size drink if you aren’t sure.
Remember, you can get caffeine from other parts of your diet, like soda, energy drinks, chocolate, and even some pain medications. So, depending on your coffee size and type, you might be better off limiting yourself to 3 to 4 cups of coffee per day.
How do you know if you’ve had too much caffeine?
Whether it’s from coffee, tea, or energy drinks, too much caffeine can lead to side effects, including:
Feeling anxious or jittery
Having a fast heart rate or palpitations
Experiencing stomachache, nausea, or diarrhea
Having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
Frequently asked questions
Mushroom coffee is made by mixing ground coffee with ground mushrooms, usually with equal amounts of each. There are no good studies looking specifically at the effects of mushroom coffee on your liver. But research has shown that both mushrooms and coffee are good for your liver. So, it’s likely that mushroom coffee might have similar benefits. More research is needed to know which types of mushroom may be most helpful.
Black coffee is good for your liver because of two key ingredients: caffeine and chlorogenic acid. These compounds have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects. All of these work together to boost liver health. Black coffee is considered better for you than coffee with added cream and sugar. This is because the added sugar isn’t good for your liver.
Drinking coffee daily is linked to a lower risk of developing liver damage. If you have alcohol-related liver damage, it’s unclear if coffee can reverse those changes. Some studies suggest that it’s possible, but this hasn’t been proven. That said, coffee can help prevent more severe liver disease and liver cancer if you have liver damage from alcohol.
The bottom line
When consumed in moderation, coffee isn’t harmful to your liver or kidneys. In fact, studies show it may have several positive effects. So, go ahead and enjoy your morning cup of coffee. It may end up boosting your health in other ways as well.
Why trust our experts?
References
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