COFFEE CAUSES
CANCER!!! Wait, not so fast.
You might have seen that CA Judge Elihu Berle has ruled that
coffee shops, convenience stores and others selling coffee must publicly post
in each location that it contains a carcinogen named acrylamide.
Background
Here’s the Cliff Notes version of a complex story. In 1986,
CA passed Prop 65, which required retailers and others to post a list of any
toxic materials that someone might be exposed to while in their store. The list
must be easily visible. Since a lot of stuff is toxic in large quantities-e.g-aspirin-
or a lot of common household products are toxic if consumed – e.g.- Clorox- the
list of dangerous products that could be in a clothing store or coffee shop
quickly became enormous. (Probably defeated the original purpose of Prop 65,
but that’s a different discussion).
What’s “acrylamide”?
You probably consume some every day. Any time a starch is
cooked at over 250 degrees, acrylamide is produced. French fries. Potato chips.
Toast. And, roasting coffee beans. Acrylamide, administered in large doses in
animal test models, causes cancer. So far, there is little evidence that it
does so in humans.
Medical Studies Show
a Benefit to Coffee Consumption
If you are like me, a cup of coffee every morning, or more
than one cup of coffee every morning, is essential to getting started. Despite
Judge Berle, research studies tend to reveal that a cup of coffee is actually
quite healthy. Here are some findings:
·
Coffee seems to help prevent type II diabetes
(OK- not so much if you put four sugar packets in every cup). The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
maintains a longitudinal study that includes tracking coffee consumption. One
element in this ongoing study compares people drinking three to five cups a day
to those drinking less or no coffee.
From the study, “Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance
and systematic inflammation…”. The study concluded that regular coffee drinkers
had lower risks of cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, type 2
diabetes and suicide. Link to the study here.
·
Coffee also has some positive impact on liver
disease and reduces the likelihood of developing liver cancer. According to
Dr. Carlo La Vecchia, part of the research team from the Medical School at the
University of Milan: “Our research confirms past claims that coffee is good for
your health, and particularly the liver.” The study found a 40% reduction in
the risk of a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma. Link to the
study here.
·
According to a study performed by the University
of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center of the Keck School of
Medicine, coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer.
Consumption of one-to-two cups per day were associated with a 26% lower
incidence of colorectal cancer. In fact, Dr. Steven Gruber, MD, PhD, MPH said “We found that drinking coffee is associated with lower
risk of colorectal cancer, and the more coffee consumed, the lower the
risk". Those men and women who drank on average 2.5 cups per day had a 50%
lower incidence of colorectal cancer. Link to that study here.
·
Dr. Murray
Mittleman, of the Harvard School of Public Health, et al, also researched
coffee and health, resulting in a report titled: Habitual Coffee Consumption and Risk of Heart Failure A Dose-Response
Meta-Analysis. That was the
research-scientist title. The press release on the study had a much better
headline: Moderate Coffee Consumption
Offers Protection Against Heart Failure. (Mittleman and the other
researchers introduced the term “dose” to the medical literature on coffee,
which let me know that I’m self-medicating with large dosages). Link to the
study here.
·
Dr. Muhammad Beg,
a GI specialist at the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UT
Southwestern Medical Center noted: “We don’t quite know how coffee exerts its
health benefit because there are many different compounds in coffee. But
researchers have shown that both caffeinated and decaf can be helpful. Studies suggest
that people who drink coffee may decrease the risk of colon cancer”. Link to
that report here.
·
Finally, the clincher. A very
large study- over 500,000 participants across Europe- produced a ringing
endorsement for coffee. Known as the EPIC study: European Prospective
Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, the study reported: Coffee drinking
was associated with reduced risk for death from various causes. This
relationship did not vary by country. One of the leaders of the research
project, Dr. Marc Gunter stated, “We
found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from any
cause, and specifically for circulatory diseases, and digestive
diseases". Link to the study here.
This study has been widely reported;
there are a lot of us coffee drinkers rejoicing at these findings. However, frequently
the headline in print and read by television news readers was “coffee
consumption reduces the risk of dying”. Sorry. Our risk of dying remains 100%.
What coffee consumption does is reduce the risk of premature dying. Still, not bad for something that also can perk
you up- pun fully intended.
The Usual Disclaimers
None of us at Big Brain Place Inc. are doctors. If you look
to us for medical advice you’re making a big mistake. But, in our opinion the
CA courts are making a mistake. Medical evidence at this point seems to favor
coffee, not find deleterious health effects.
In full disclosure we sell coffee. And to celebrate our
opposition to Judge Elihu Berle, ESQ, we’re announcing our coffee sampler
extravaganza. All three of our premium, small batch, fresh-and-locally roasted
blends for $36. One each of our classic 100% Colombian Benchmark, our mild and
fragrant Blend and our darker roasted Bold. This whole-bean coffee is roasted
for us by one of the first local small-batch roasters in New England. For those
of you who don’t grind beans for freshness every time you make a pot-shame on
you. Ah, wait, that should say that we are working on getting these same
flavors in freshly ground as well. Here’s a link: coffee
sale.
Shameless Plug
We have a free
shipping on everything promotion right now. That means that for a couple of
particularly heavy items, we are selling below our cost. It’s your opportunity
to get even with the man. Enter code: FREE
at checkout.
www.BigBrain.Place
offers fun products that are good for your brain.
Excerpted from our upcoming book: How to Grow a Bigger Brain. Copywrite 2018. All rights reserved.
Comments