Is coffee good for you? Is it bad for you? Is five cups a day a healthy regimen? Does it protect your liver? The health status of coffee is endlessly debated. But the World Health Organization has just declared that at least you don’t have to worry about getting cancer from your cup of joe.
Back in 1991, the WHO’s cancer team said there was “limited” evidence that people who drank coffee had a higher incidence of bladder cancer than those who didn’t. This was never something to be genuinely worried about, mind you. Just like bacon wasn’t exactly the cancer-causing agent the WHO suggested it was, bladder cancer isn’t exactly commonplace. Just 5 percent of all new cancers are bladder cancers, and it disproportionately strikes men more than women, so dudes would, in theory, have to drink less coffee.
But like good scientists, they went back and collected more data, analyzed it, and came back with a better result. Namely, that coffee doesn’t give you cancer in most situations, unless it’s hotter than 150 degrees. Then you might be damaging your throat and stomach, and that might cause some problems. That said, most coffee, while brewed at 195° to 205° Fahrenheit, is generally served at between 120° and 140° F. Or you could just drink cold-brew, although with the constantly changing state of medical science, that might eventually be declared carcinogenic too.
If you were wondering why there was ever a link in the first place, the answer is smoking. Turns out that many of the 1991 studies didn’t control for tobacco use, as it wasn’t well understood that there was a link between smoking and bladder cancer. So, enjoy your coffee, but don’t have a cigarette with it.
(Via PopSci)
