Coffee lovers may be on to something. Aside from a necessary aid to wake up in the morning, a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has found that drinking coffee could protect you from skin cancer.

The study surveyed over 447,000 people in the United States over an average of 10 years. Those who drank coffee were associated with a decreased risk of developing melanoma skin cancer. They found those who drank four or more cups of joe a day were 20 percent less likely to develop melanoma.

Melanoma skin cancer is mainly caused by exposure to UV radiation. This can be through natural sunlight or the artificial light used in sunbeds. About 12,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with melanoma each year.

The findings builds on a 2007 study published by Dr. Ernest Abel, which found that risk of non-melanoma skin cancer also fell with increased coffee consumption.

Decaffeinated coffee had no affect on the risk of skin cancer in both studies.