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

by Christopher Labos

Overview

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770417229
Publisher:	ECW Press
Publication date:	10/31/2023
Edition description:	No Edition
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	515,262
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

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.

Read an Excerpt

“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.”

Editorial Reviews

08/07/2023

“Numbers don’t lie, but they can be misleading,” according to cardiologist Labos’s meandering debut. Relating fictional conversations between a doctor and various interlocutors he meets while on a business trip, Labos busts such myths as “red wine is good for your heart” and “caffeine can trigger heart attacks” and explains how readers can spot misleading or overhyped food and medical research. The author pushes back against the belief that “vitamin C fights the common cold” by noting that one of the only studies supporting the claim found vitamin C’s efficacy limited to marathon runners, skiers, and Canadian soldiers. According to Labos, this dubious result shows how scientists can inadvertently manufacture positive findings by chopping up data in ways that concentrate among arbitrarily chosen subsets of participants the inevitable false positives that accompany any study. Corporate interests, Labos argues, also influence which scientific results are published; for example, the myth that “breakfast’s the most important meal of the day” originated in a magazine owned by cereal magnate John Harvey Kellogg. Unfortunately, the book’s narrative format can make it hard to follow Labos’s arguments (an interruptive barista leads the narrator on disruptive tangents while they discuss whether coffee causes cancer), and the surfeit of extraneous detail further distracts (“A flight attendant admonished me for not buckling my seat belt”). This struggles to stay on task. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

In a masterful way, Dr. Chris Labos takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery about the machinations of the scientific world. Chris doesn’t tell us what to think but how to think. And that is the essence of science! Tell everyone you know to run, not walk, to get a copy of Does Coffee Cause Cancer?” — Dr. Joe Schwarcz, Director, McGill University’s Office for Science and Society

“Not only is this book an engaging and entertaining read, but it will also make you a more informed and critical reader of health news. This is an ideal book for our misinformation-filled times. A must. Enjoy the read, perhaps with some coffee, wine, or chocolate!” — Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy

“Ignoring every headline you ever see about nutrition science is a pretty good plan. If you want to understand why, read this book.” — Yoni Freedhoff, Medical Director, Bariatric Medical Institute, Ottawa

“Part love story, part dietary myth-buster, Does Coffee Cause Cancer? is an excellent antidote to the scaremongering headlines talking up the dangers of everyday foodstuffs, especially for readers who don’t want to spend hours poring through scientific journals. Readers will be so effortlessly invested in the lives of its characters that they won’t even notice they’ve been learning the whole time.” — Michael Marshall, Editor, The Skeptic magazine

“When the first chapter begins by explaining p-hacking on the back of a boarding pass, I knew I would be hooked! Labos epitomizes the art of science communication and takes you on a journey that is part epidemiology, part history, with a good dash of romance. An absolutely brilliant and enjoyable read, deftly highlighting that science is hardly as straightforward as it seems. Gift this book to every person in your life who is just as conflicted about the latest food fad, but don’t be surprised when they emerge with new critical analysis skills and a healthy dose of skepticism!” — Sabina Vohra-Miller, Founder, Unambiguous Science blog

“In a concise, easy-to-read book filled with science, compassion, and humor, Dr. Labos examines the origins of food myths and how as scientists and eaters ourselves, we can all do better.” — Dr. Jonathan Howard, Chief of Neurology, Bellevue Hospital, author of We Want Them Infected

“Does Coffee Cause Cancer? deflates nine food-related myths in an entertaining and easy-to-follow manner. Who knew statistics could be so much fun?” — The Miramichi Reader

“I recommend you grab a coffee, your preferred chocolate, and some strawberries, and curl up with this informative and fun book, the characters of which you might just become attached to.” — AIPT Comics

From the Publisher