Does Coffee Cause Cancer?: And 8 More Myths about the Food We Eat - Softcover

Labos, Dr Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1770417222 ISBN 13: 9781770417229

Publisher: ECW Press, 2023

Synopsis

In this fascinating, refreshingly clarifying book about food, food myths, and how sloppy science perpetuates misconceptions about food, a medical doctor on his way to a conference gets drawn into conversations that answer the following questions:

• Does vitamin C prevent the common cold? And if it works, why does it only work in Canadian soldiers, ultramarathon runners, and skiers?
• Was red meat really declared a carcinogen by the WHO? Does that mean I should become a vegetarian? And who decides what gets labeled as red meat and white meat?
• Is salt really not that bad for you and did a group of researchers really want to experiment on prisoners to prove the point?
• Does coffee cause cancer or heart attacks? Why did a California court say coffee needed a warning label?
• Is red wine really good for your heart, and what makes the French Paradox such a paradox?
• Why did the New England Journal of Medicine link eating chocolate with winning a Nobel Prize?
• Why were eggs once bad for you but now good for you again? Does that mean I don't need to worry about cholesterol?
• Should I be taking vitamin D?

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Christopher Labos is a cardiologist and has a master's degree in epidemiology. He is a regular contributor to the Montreal Gazette, CJAD radio, CTV Montreal, and CBC's Morning Live. He also blogs for Medscape and co-hosts a podcast, The Body of Evidence. He lives in Montreal, QC.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

“Has anybody ever checked to see if drinking coffee damages the heart or whatever?”

“There have probably been hundreds of studies, I’m tempted to say thousands of studies, about coffee over the centuries.”

“Centuries?” asked Casey.

“Well if you wanted to, you could go all the way back to the coffee experiment of King Gustav III of Sweden in the 18th century.”

Casey and Alexi looked at each other. “Don’t do it. It’s a trap,” Alexi warned..

“I have a feeling this is going to be bonkers. It’s going to be bonkers, isn’t it?”

“A bit,” I admitted. “You see, Gustav III wanted to prove that coffee was dangerous so he designed an experiment. He got a pair of identical twins and ordered that one twin would drink coffee every day for the rest of his life and the other would drink tea. Whichever one died first would prove the point.”

“And why would these twins agree to this?”

“They were both prisoners who were going to be executed. It was either agree to the study or be killed.”

“Ah. I see. Hardly much of a choice.”

“Not really.”

“So who won?”

“The twin drinking tea died first but many years later in his eighties I think. The coffee twin some time later.”

“The king must have been none too happy.”

“I think he was dead at this point. He was assassinated during a masquerade ball.”

“Well I guess if you’re going to assassinate a king, you want to do it in a setting where everybody is wearing a mask so you can get away easily.”

“Actually he survived the bullet shot and only died of infection like a week later. So he had enough time to round up all the nobles who were plotting against him.”

Casey contemplated the story and then looked at Alexi. “I warned you,” he said.

Casey however was defiant in her response. “I stand by my decision to ask about the king of Switzerland.”

“Sweden,” I corrected.

“Whatever. But I have some questions. Why did they keep doing the study even after the king died?”

“But for people to keep talking about it, over and over, some of the research must say that coffee is bad for you. Otherwise people would have moved on to other things.”

“You’re right. There have been some studies suggesting that coffee is dangerous. But there are also studies suggesting that coffee isn’t bad for your heart. Possibly even good for your heart although there’s some caveats to that. But when you look at the studies that suggest that drinking coffee increases your risk of having a heart attack, you have to interpret the numbers in the right way.”

“Oooooh! Are there going to be more tables and graphs like last time?” asked Casey excitedly. “Wait. I’ll get the napkins.”

Alexi shook his head disapprovingly. “Don’t encourage him.”

Edition details

• Publisher: ECW Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1770417222
• ISBN 13: 9781770417229
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304