January 25/London/Daily Mail -- Drinking at least five cups of coffee or tea every day could help prevent brain tumors, suggests a new study from Imperial College, London.

In the study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers And Prevention, researchers looked at more than 300 men and women diagnosed with glioma, a type of cancer that normally starts in the brain.

When they compared their caffeine drinking habits to patients without brain tumors, they found that those who drank five or more teas or coffees a day were 40% less likely to have cancer.

Men benefited more from the "protective" effects of the caffeine, though it is not clear why.

One theory is that caffeine reduces blood supply to the brain, starving tumors of the high levels of oxygen and nutrients they need to flourish.

Decaffeinated tea or coffee did not have the same benefits.  

From the February 1, 2010, Prepared Foods E-dition