Here's the good news for triathletes who spend lots of time in the sun exercising.
A new study has found that a combination of exercise and caffeine can reduce the risk of skin cancer.
Here's the catch: The study so far has only found these results in mice.
The new study conducted at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University in New Jerse," gave 160 mice low doses of UV light once a day, five days a week, for 20 weeks. The goal was to mimic everyday human exposure to UV radiation. They then monitored the animals’ skin-cancer development and found that mice that were given a dose of caffeine and ran on a running wheel had 62% fewer skin tumors than mice that didn’t exercise or consume caffeine. Their tumors were also 85% smaller", according to Time Magazine.
The report goes on to say, "Separately, caffeine and exercise also had cancer-preventing benefits, but to a lesser extent. The caffeine-only mice had 27% fewer tumors and a 61% reduction in tumor size, compared with control mice. In exercise-only mice, the researchers found a 35% decrease in tumor development and a 70% decrease in size."
So if you are triathlete mouse who likes to stay fit and drinks coffee or coke....the news is all good.
However the news may also be good for humans. According to Time, "The researchers discovered an extra perk: caffeine consumption and exercise also reduced inflammation in mice by 92. In humans, inflammation is associated with a variety of chronic illnesses, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer and asthma."
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