Coffee a day keeps the Skin Doctor Away?

According to new research, caffeine may be linked to protecting you from skin cancer. US News and World Report has released the evidence and data done by the University of Washington (Seattle). So nowadays a coffee a day may keep the dermatologist away. For those of you bronzed beach bums, this may be great news, you can sunbake and drink your favourite double shot skim cappuccino everyday. The study says, "We have found what we believe to be the mechanism by which caffeine is associated with decreased skin cancer,' said lead researcher Dr. Paul Nghiem, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Washington in Seattle. They found that in cells damaged by UV rays, caffeine interrupted a protein called ATR-Chk1, causing the damaged cells to self-destruct. ATR is essential to damaged cells that are growing rapidly, Nghiem said, and caffeine specifically targets damaged cells that can become cancerous. 'Caffeine more than doubles the number of damaged cells that will die normally after a given dose of UV,' he said." The research was published in the February 26 edition of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Dermatologists however have urged people not to increase their cups of coffee or tea.