Good for her. Photo: Vladimer Shioshvili/Flickr CC

Cancers of the mouth and throat are among the deadliest. But if, like me, you drink coffee by the bucket-full, your chances of developing the disease are 40 percent less that non-coffee drinkers.

“Since coffee is so widely used and there is a relatively high incidence and low survival rate of these forms of cancers, our results have important public health implications that need to be further addressed,” Huntsman Cancer Institute (University of Utah) investigator lead researcher Mia Hashibe said in a release this afternoon.

This news comes on the heels of a report last week that coffee might reduce your risk for diabetes…

In other words, if you’ve been following Dr. Andrew Weil’s snake oil advise, and been feeling superior for not being a coffee drinker, you’ve again been misled by the self-appointed sage of alternative medicine.

U. of Utah's Mia Hashibe makes a startling epidemiological finding. Photo: American Association for Cancer Research

More from the announcement:

Using information from a pooled-analysis of nine studies collected by the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium, participants who were regular coffee drinkers, that is, those who drank an estimated four or more cups a day, compared with those who were non-drinkers, had a 39 percent decreased risk of oral cavity and pharynx cancers combined.

Data on decaffeinated coffee was too sparse for detailed analysis, but indicated no increased risk. Tea intake was not associated with head and neck cancer risk.

The association is more reliable among those who are frequent, regular coffee drinkers, consuming more than four cups of coffee a day.