Study lists latest coffee benefit: Pain reducer

Over the last few years, coffee has been credited with a growing list of health benefits including weight loss and Alzheimer’s prevention.

Now a recent study has found yet another benefit to drinking a cup o' joe: pain relief.

Norway researchers conducted a study with 48 volunteers who agreed to complete tasks that mimicked office work, the Seattle Times reports.

The scientists allowed people to drink coffee to avoid effects of caffeine deprivation, such as decreased alertness.

The tasks typically can cause pain in the neck, shoulders and other areas of the body.

But they discovered the 29 people who drank coffee rated the intensity of their pain an average of 41 on a scale of 100.  

Those who didn’t drink coffee rated their pain significantly higher with an average of 55.

The author said because the test wasn’t initially designed to test coffee’s effect on pain, the results may have uncertainties.

Learn more about the experiment here: http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019077710_coffee06.html