June 8/Washington/TopNews Network -- Coffee is a most popular beverage around the world, because of its soothing aroma, taste and impact on mood. Now, its array of attributes has another benefit to add to that list: coffee can treat advanced hepatitis patients with chronic liver diseases.

A study published in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute, stated that patients who consumed peginterferon plus ribavirin treatment and who drank three or more cups of coffee, per day, were around two times more likely to respond to treatment as compared to the non-coffee-consuming patients.

"Coffee intake has been associated with a lower level of liver enzymes, reduced progression of chronic liver disease and reduced incidence of liver cancer,” explained the lead author of the study, Neal Freedman, of the National Cancer Institute. "Although we observed an independent association between coffee intake and virologic response to treatment, this association needs replication in other studies.”