Doctors told the truth about the dangers of decaffeinated coffee

It is made with a substance that may stimulate cancer formation.

Sometimes it happens that we wanted the best, but it turned out as always. Decaffeinated coffee looked like an excellent alternative for those who love the taste of the drink, but for whom it is contraindicated. However, the first sign has appeared – Californian legislators are going to ban this “healthy” drink because, as it turns out, it is not entirely healthy. More precisely, not healthy at all.

As it turns out, most decaffeinated coffee is made using methylene chloride. This chemical solvent is widely used in various types of industries today. For example, it is used for the production of synthetic polymers (polyurethane foams, foam rubber, synthetic fibers), as a means for cleaning and degreasing metal surfaces; It is also included in aerosol paints and nail polish removers, a solvent for fats, resins, and bitumen. And in the food industry it is used to process coffee beans and hops. Decaf coffee makers have been found to use it to remove caffeine from coffee beans. Coffee producers insist that the chemical is leached from the beans after processing, and all amounts of it evaporate when the beans are heated during roasting. But tests by consumer watchdog organizations have shown that traces of methylene chloride remain in coffee even after processing. Local consumer advocacy groups found that 10 of the 25 brands of decaffeinated coffee it tested contained the chemical in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified methylene chloride as a “probable carcinogen” after studies showed it was linked to cancers of the blood, breast and other parts of the body. That’s why California lawmakers want to ban decaf coffee or force companies to reformulate it to remove the dangerous chemical. Otherwise, they will face a fine of 10 thousand dollars. By the way, California became the first state in the United States to ban four chemicals in candy, the use of which has been linked to cancer and hyperactivity in children. The new bill gives food companies three years to remove ingredients from their products.

But the National Coffee Association expressed concern, calling it a “decaf ban.” Its CEO, Bill Murray, said: “Overwhelming independent scientific evidence shows that drinking decaffeinated coffee is safe and, like all coffee, is associated with a reduced risk of multiple cancers and other significant health benefits.” , – story by Bill Murray.

Meanwhile, today there are other methods for producing decaffeinated coffee, for example using carbon dioxide and water, but they require more time and money, so most often the decaffeinated drink is still prepared using methylene chloride.

By the way, a scientific work was recently published that determined safe doses of caffeine that will not harm health. Its daily amount should not exceed 400 milligrams (about 100 milligrams in one cup). But more – forgive me, it’s risky. Especially for pregnant women and young people (they have a limit of 2 cups per day). However, experts warn that no one can guarantee the quality of coffee sold in various coffee shops. In other places, one cup may exceed the daily value. “Unfortunately, until now no one has been able to reliably determine what dose of coffee per day is dangerous or safe. The substances contained in this drink have different effects on different people. So there simply cannot be uniform standards for everyone “Theoretically, it is possible that coffee leads to heart disease, but practical data are contradictory,” cardiologist Igor Zhirov told MK.

And last year, Chinese scientists analyzed medical records from the British national biobank (more than 171 thousand people, average age 55 years) and came to the conclusion that drinking coffee (even with sugar) is not only not harmful, but even slightly beneficial. 55.4% of participants drank coffee without anything, 14.3% drank it with sugar, 6.1% drank it with artificial sweetener, and 24.2% didn’t drink it. Over the course of approximately 7 years, 3,177 participants died, including 1,725 ​​deaths from cancer and 628 deaths from cardiovascular disease. The analysis found that coffee drinkers were significantly less likely to die from any cause, cardiovascular disease or cancer, than those who did not drink coffee at all. This benefit was observed across all types of coffee, including ground, instant, and decaffeinated coffee. Coffee’s protective effect was most apparent in people who drank two to four cups a day, who were about 30% less likely to die, regardless of whether they added sugar to their coffee or not. People who drank coffee with artificial sweetener didn’t live much longer than those who didn’t drink coffee at all; however, the researchers suggested that this result may have been skewed by higher levels of negative health factors such as obesity and hypertension in the artificial sweetener group.