That morning cup of Joe does more than just perk up your day. New research shows consuming two or more cups of coffee daily can cut the risk of death from liver cirrhosis by two-thirds.
 

The findings, published in the journal Hepatology, indicate coffee may be particularly beneficial in cases of cirrhosis caused by non-viral hepatitis. They also indicate that tea, fruit juice, and soft drink consumption are not linked to cirrhosis mortality, but — as with previous studies — heavy alcohol use significantly increases the risk of death from liver disease, Medical Xpress reports.

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 "Prior evidence suggests that coffee may reduce liver damage in patients with chronic liver disease," said lead researcher, Woon-Puay Koh, M.D. with Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore and the National University of Singapore. "Our study examined the effects of consuming coffee, alcohol, black tea, green tea, and soft drinks on risk of mortality from cirrhosis [and] is the first to demonstrate a difference between the effects of coffee on non-viral and viral hepatitis related cirrhosis mortality."
 

The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 percent of total deaths worldwide are caused by cirrhosis, which is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S.
 

The new study examined the medical records and lifestyle habits of 63,275 Chinese adults living in Singapore who tracked for an average of nearly 15 years. During that time 14,928 of the participants died; 114 of them from liver cirrhosis.
 

The findings indicated that those who drank two or more cups of coffee daily had a 66 percent reduction in mortality risk, compared to non-daily coffee drinkers.