The Truth about Coffee & Cancer

A judge in California recently ruled that coffee should contain a warning label as a potential cancer causer. This may be very confusing if you are aware that there are dozens of studies linking coffee to a lowered incidence of cancer. So why would California now require a cancer warning label for coffee?

The truth is that no matter what we do, even when we eat all organic, there are minute amounts of pesticides in organic food. This is unavoidable since the wind can carry these pesticides for many miles. Pesticides are not good for us to consume and there has been a lot in the news lately about Glyphosate (Roundup), which is made by Monsanto, causing cancer. Roundup is the most common herbicide used in America.

If we want to maximize our health potential, we have to look at everything that we do and everything that we eat. We can then weigh out the positives and negatives and decide a course of action based on the evidence available. It is unfortunate that sometimes we don't have all of the vital evidence and many times people will jump to the wrong conclusion based upon partial or even false evidence.

This all can make the average consumer very confused! The benefits and detriments of coffee, eggs, red meat and butter have been debated for decades and many "experts" are still at odds with each other.

So What is the Truth About Coffee?

Coffee was given a bad reputation back in 1996. That is when the World Health Organization, which is part of the United Nations, declared coffee a possible carcinogen. It wasn't the coffee! Any beverage over 149 degrees Fahrenheit can burn the esophagus and cause an increased chance of esophageal cancer. Coffee wasn't the problem, the temperature of the coffee was!

30 years later, in 2016, The World Health Organization declared coffee a cancer reducing beverage!

The California ruling that coffee should carry a cancer warning label, will force Starbucks, 7-11, and other coffee retailers to have a warning label on every cup of coffee sold. This is due to the acrylamide content in the coffee.

You might be asking yourself "What the heck is acrylamide?"

Acrylamide is compound that is produced when coffee beans are roasted. Many other foods produce much greater amounts of acrylamide when they are roasted, toasted, baked or fried. Some other foods that also contain acrylamide are; French fries, potato chips, corn chips, cereal, breads, cookies, crackers, beer and even organic baked potatoes!

Any starchy carbohydrate that is cooked at high temperature, especially those that are cooked to a golden brown or dark brown color, usually contain the highest amounts of acrylamide. Potato chips and French fries are by far some of the worst offenders.

These levels are approximate, and dependent on cooking time and temperatures:

• Potato chips – 546 micrograms/kg
• French fries – 698 micrograms/kg
• Breakfast cereal – 131 micrograms/kg
• Coffee – 8 micrograms/kg

Why is coffee being picked out when French fries require no warning and have an acrylamide content that is 87 times greater? French fries and potato chips also contain inflammatory causing refined vegetable oils, which would actually add to the cancer risk of those foods, while coffee is loaded with antioxidants that protect us against carcinogens!

This FDA website has a comprehensive listings of the acrylamide content of foods and beverages:

This data was collected over a decade ago, so the acrylamide content of foods is far from breaking news! Acrylamide in food was first discovered in 2002.

What Are the Health Benefits of Coffee?

Coffee, especially organic coffee, has numerous scientifically supported major health benefits. Cancer prevention is very high on coffee’s list of attributes.

Coffee has been shown to protect the liver against cancer because of its caffeine content, chlorogenic acid and substances called diterpenes.

Coffee also protects post-menopausal women against breast cancer. Those women who drank the equivalent of four cups a day actually had a 10% lower risk of breast cancer. Women drinking coffee also had a significantly less risk of endometrial cancer, and uterine cancer, according to the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention journal.

Oral, gastric, and colon cancer protection can be added to that growing list, especially the lighter roasts. While the darker roasts had similar anti-cancer properties, the lighter roasts won out for the highest protective factors.

According to the October 2015 issue of Science News, and other important nutrition and scientific journals, coffee protects a wide variety of major health issues. Some of those include:

• Type 2 Diabetes—Studies suggest that drinking 3-4 cups of coffee per day is associated with a 25% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared to consuming none or less than 2 cups per day. Research suggests a dose responsive relationship with coffee.
• Parkinson’s–In a prospective study, people who drank about four cups of caffeinated coffee daily were one-fourth less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than those who drank very little, researchers reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2012.
• Dementia–In a 2012 study, researchers monitored 32 older people with mild cognitive impairment. The individuals who had the highest levels of caffeine were less likely to progress to dementia, than those who did not ingest caffeine, scientists reported in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. It is thought that the poly­phenols, in addition to the caffeine in the coffee helped with brain function.
• Depression–In a 10-year study of 50,000 U.S. women, those drinking four cups of caffeinated coffee a day were 20 percent less likely to have depression than those consuming very little, according to a report in Archives of Internal Medicine in 2011.
• Heart disease and stroke–Demographic studies suggest coffee offers protection against heart disease by helping to prevent blood clots.
• Kidney function–A group of young people drank three cups of coffee a day, and showed significant improved kidney function, according to Japanese researchers reported in 2011 in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism.

Coffee helps to activate the NRF2 pathway in the body, a system that fights oxidative stress, neutralizes toxins, and targets cancer cells. The NRF2 pathway has been identified as being one of the most important anti-aging and disease-fighting components in the human body.

In the intestines, coffee helps to encourage the growth of beneficial Bifidobacteria, part of a healthy microbiome. These little critters help to regulate and protect the digestive system, immune function, and mental health.

Coffee is a fat-burning beverage, increasing heart rate, breathing and metabolism—meaning you actually burn more calories. Caffeine is also excellent for keto dieters–breaking down fat cells more efficiently and freeing up fats in the body to burn for energy. In fact, converting fat to energy is 30% more effective with caffeine.

Coffee also elevates your mood, banishes depression, and helps you feel more energetic, but be careful—too much can cause jitteriness and anxiety in some people.

Coffee is known to improve athletic performance as well. Caffeine has been shown repeatedly to increase endurance, speed, power, and shorten recovery time. While part of this is due to the effect of caffeine, another part may be due to the high levels of antioxidants in coffee. So, a cup of ‘joe’ before your workout or competition will help you go harder and longer!

• Use fresh, whole, ORGANIC beans which maximizes the antioxidants in the coffee and minimizes toxins. Light roast contains slightly higher levels of antioxidants and caffeine than dark roast, but both types still have health benefits. The type of coffee you buy and drink makes a huge difference, as it does for many other foods. Coffee is often highly sprayed with pesticides and herbicides, so it is best to drink organic coffee if at all possible.
• Drink your coffee black, or with organic REAL cream. Avoid adding refined sugar, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, or fake non-dairy ‘creamer’. For natural sweetness, try a small drizzle of maple syrup, stevia, monk fruit, or coconut sugar. Organic, REAL grass-fed cream is divine and is available in most grocery stores in the US under the Organic Valley brand. Coconut cream is also luscious and loaded with healthy, fat burning medium chain triglycerides, to help you burn fat and boost metabolism. Add a dollop of grass-fed butter and coconut oil to your coffee and blend into a froth for a delicious frothy healthy fat coffee.

• Avoid coffee from big chain coffee shops if possible. These coffees are generally NOT organic, and full of pesticides and herbicides. Purchasing organic coffee grown at high altitudes means that it contains the highest levels of antioxidants. Many smaller coffee shops contain organic coffee more frequently. Or just buy your own organic beans and make it at home so you know it’s organic and free of pesticides and fungicides.
• Boost the antioxidant power by adding cinnamon, which also helps control blood sugar and has many other benefits. Organic cocoa powder is another delicious and healthy addition to your morning coffee. Cocoa is high in magnesium, antioxidants, and helps lower blood pressure.

The bottom line here is that coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death, overall. Given all the above scientific studies on coffee and health, the California ruling is totally illogical!

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