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For many people who drink coffee, it is simply a means to perk up in the morning. However, the world's most popular beverage has unexpected health benefits as well. A study recently conducted by researchers at Lund University in Sweden has found that drinking java, along with taking the drug tamoxifen, reduced the risk of the return of breast cancer for survivors.

The study was conducted by examining 634 Swedish women who suffered from breast cancer. Half of the women were treated with tamoxifen, a drug that is commonly prescribed to women after breast cancer surgery in an effort to reduce the risk of the cancer's return. The study found that women who took the hormone therapy and drank two or more cups of coffee a day were less likely to see their cancer return than women who only took the drug. The difference was significant as well; women who drank coffee saw the risk of cancer relapse fall by over half.

Researchers are not sure what the link is between coffee and breast cancer. The researchers believe that coffee may make tamoxifen more efficient.

This is not the first study that has found that coffee may make a powerful ally against breast cancer. The Local reports that a 2011 study found that drinking five or more cups of coffee a day significantly lowered the risk of certain types of breast cancer.

In addition, coffee has been found to hold other health benefits as well. Coffee has been linked to longer lives, as well as a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease, heart failure, oral cancer, Parkinson's disease and skin cancer. It is not just caffeinated coffee that has a health benefit either: decaffeinated coffee has been suggested to help prevent, and even possibly treat, cognitive decline.

The recent study was published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control.