Coffee

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[[File:Coffeee img451.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Mmmm…]]
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'''Coffee''' (''Coffea robusta''{{efn|The scientific name is ''Coffea canephora'', or sometimes ''Coffea canephora'' var. robusta.}} and ''C. arabica'')<ref>[https://www.coffeeresearch.org/agriculture/coffeeplant.htm The difference between ''C. arabica'' and ''C. robusta''] ''Coffee Research Institute''.</ref> is native to [[Ethiopia]] and [[Yemen]]. It was domesticated relatively late in human history, with the first definitive evidence of domestication in the 15<sup>th</sup> century CE.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qyz5CnOaH9oC&pg=PA3&dq=coffee+goat+ethiopia+Kaldi&lr=&ei=paxHStuDJ4XuzATj97hf#v=onepage&q=coffee%20goat%20ethiopia%20Kaldi&f=false ''The World of Caffeine''] by Bennett Alan Weinberg & Bonnie K. Bealer (2001) Routledge. ISBN 0415927234.</ref>{{rp|3}} Most of the coffee in the world today is produced in [[Brazil]], [[Vietnam]], and [[Colombia]]. 

==Menace or panacea?==
[[File:The Vertue of the COFFEE Drink..jpg|thumb|right|165px|"The Vertue of the Coffee Drink"… a broadsheet advertisement from 1652]]
{{cquote|Whereas it is most apparent, that the Multitude of Coffee-Houses of late years set up and kept within the Kingdom, the Dominion of [[Wales]], and the Town of Berwick on Tweed, and the great resort of Idle and disaffected persons to them, have produced very [[evil]] and dangerous effects; as well for that many Tradesmen and others, do therein mis-spend much of their time, which might and probably would otherwise by imployed in and about their Lawful Callings and Affairs; but also, for that in such houses, and by occasion of the meetings of such persons therein, diverse False, Malitious and Scandalous Reports are devised and spread abroad, to the Defamation of His Majesties Government, and to the Disturbance of the Peace and Quiet of the Realm…|||King Charles II, 1675<ref name=charles>[http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2006/12/king-bans-coffee.html The King bans Coffee.] ''The Olde Foodie''.</ref>}}

Prior to the era of modern medical science, no-one could definitively say whether coffee consumption was unhealthy, healthy, or neutral. Nonetheless, arguments about its healthiness (and other social effects) started early, shortly after its arrival in [[Mecca]].<ref name=wild>''Coffee: A Dark History'' by Antony Wild (2004) W. W. Norton. ISBN 0393060713.</ref>{{rp|49}}

Attempts at banning coffee have happened several times in history: [[Mecca]] (1511 and 1526 CE), Cairo, [[Egypt]] (1539 and 1544), [[Italy]] (16<sup>th</sup> century), Constantinople, [[Ottoman Empire]] (1623, 1675), [[Sweden]] (1746), Prussia (1777), and in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (at some point before the 18<sup>th</sup> century).<ref name=charles/><ref name=wild/><ref>[http://theweek.com/articles/471874/5-historical-attempts-ban-coffee 5 historical attempts to ban coffee] (October 2, 2012) ''The Week''.</ref>{{rp|49-53}} Possible ill-health from coffee drinking was considered in the first assessment of whether there should be a ban in 1511.<ref name=wild/>{{rp|50}}<ref>"The Early History of Ethiopia's Coffee Trade and the Rise of Shawa" by Merid W. Aregay (1988) ''The Journal of African History'' 29(1):19-20. doi:10.1017/s0021853700035969. JSTOR 182236.</ref> In Sweden, King Gustav III (reigned 1771 to 1792) viewed coffee as a threat to public health and may have ordered the conducting of a crude [[Cohort study|prospective epidemiology study]], {{wpl|Gustav III of Sweden's coffee experiment||.}}<ref>[http://www2.linnaeus.uu.se/online/pharm/kaffete.html Coffee – rat poison or miracle medicine?] (2007) ''Linné on line''.</ref>

Coffee houses are one of the more humorous examples of an early [[moral panic]] in 18<big>th</big> century [[Germany]] and [[Austria]]. The belief was that, since coffee houses were places where men and women of culture could casually gather and mingle, it would tempt the women to [[Adultery|violate their marriage vows]], or even [[Virgin|defile themselves before marriage]]. The moral panic was so ridiculous that it inspired J.S. Bach, one of the greatest classical composers of all time, to write a short cantata satirizing it.<ref>''[https://imslp.org/wiki/Schweigt_stille,_plaudert_nicht,_BWV_211_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian) Schweigt Stille, Plaudert Nicht]'', BWV 211, International Music Score Library Project.</ref> The cantata involves a father trying to end his daughter's coffee dependency, and the latter provides us with the immortal line:

{{Ctransquote|Father, don't be so sharp! If I couldn't, three times a day, be allowed to drink my little cup of coffee, in my anguish I will turn into a shriveled-up roast [[goat]].<ref>[https://genius.com/Johann-sebastian-bach-schweigt-stille-plaudert-nicht-bwv-211-lyrics Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211] by Johann Sebastian Bach, ''Genius''.</ref>|German|Herr Vater, seid doch nicht so scharf!<BR>
Wenn ich des Tages nicht dreimal<BR>
Mein Schälchen Coffee trinken darf<BR>
So werd ich ja zu meiner Qual<BR>
Wie ein verdorrtes Ziegenbrätchen}}

A 1674 [[London]] [[advertising]] broadsheet characterised coffee as a [[panacea]]:<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_icxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT157&lpg=PT157&dq=%22do+but+this+rare+arabian+cordial+use%22&source=bl&ots=ZQamxOLPxR&sig=5P0MDX756wYWAMFr4_SxQQ_o0wY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPnauYw4vZAhVF4oMKHTk5CXoQ6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=advertising%20broadsheet&f=false ''Eighteenth-Century Coffee-House Culture''] by Markman Ellis (2006). Routledge. ISBN 1851968296.</ref><ref>[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/B01780.0001.001/1:1?rgn=div1;view=fulltext A brief description of the excellent vertues of that sober and wholesome drink, called coffee, And its incomparable effects in preventing or curing most diseases incident to humane bodies] London, Printed for Paul Greenwood, and are to be sold at the sign of the Coffee-Mill and Tobacco-Roll in Cloath-fair near West-Smithfield, who selleth the best Arabian Coffee-Powder and Chocolate, made in Cake or in Roll, after the Spanish Fashion, &c. 1674.</ref>
{{cquote|…

First sent amongst us this All-healing-Berry,<br>
At once to make us both Sober and Merry.<br>
Arabian Coffee, a Rich Cordial<br>
To Purse and Person Beneficial,<br>
Which of so many Vertues doth partake,…<br>
<br>
COFFEE arrives, that Grave and wholesome Liquor,<br>
That heals the Stomack, makes the Genius quicker,<br>
Relieve, the [[Memory]], Revives the Sad,<br>
And chears the Spirits, without making Mad;<br>
For being of a Cleansing QUALITY,<br>
By NATURE warm, Attenuating and Dry,<br>
Its constant Use the sullenest Griefs will Rout,<br>
Removes the Dropsie, gives ease to the Gout,<br>
And soon dispatcheth wheresoever it finds<br>
Scorbutick [scurvy] [[Heroic medicine|Humours]], [[Hypochondria|Hypochondriack]] winds,<br>
Rheums, Ptisicks, Palsies, Jaundise, Coughs, Catarrhs,<br>
And whatsoe're with Nature leavyeth Warrs;<br>
It helps Digestion, want of Appetite,<br>
And quickly sets Consumptive Bodies Right;…<br>
<br>
Do but this Rare ARABIAN Cordial Use,<br>
And thou may'st all the Doctors Slops Refuse.<br>
Hush then, dull [[Quackery|QUACKS]], your [[Charlatan|Mountebanking]] cease,<br>
COFFEE's a speedier Cure for each Disease;…<br>
}}

Given that it came to [[the West]] from the [[Middle East]], coffee obviously represents a sinful [[Xenophobia|foreign abomination]] which undermines the very fabric of Our Civilization. Just like minarets. Or the [[hijab]]. Or Arabic numerals. Or [[Abrahamic religion]]s.

==The anti-caffeine crusade==
[[File:Post 5416186694 12003bd602 o.jpg|thumb|left|165px|C. W. Post, circa 1914]]
[[File:Portrait of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Kellogg, supreme strainer of soups]]
The discovery of [[caffeine]] as the active ingredient of coffee in 1819 by chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KLg5AAAAcAAJ&pg=P146#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Neueste phytochemische Entdeckungen zur Begründung einer wissenschaftlichen Phytochemie''] by FF Runge (1820) Berlin: G. Reimer. pp. 144–159.</ref> eventually led to a new avenue of approach for food [[scare story | scare]]s.

One of the founders of [[Seventh-day Adventism]], [[Ellen G. White]] {{lived|1827|1915}}, advised Adventists to avoid caffeine and declared that consumption of [[tea]] and coffee "is a [[sin]], an injurious indulgence", arguing that caffeinated beverages caused "headaches, wakefulness, palpitation of the heart, indigestion, trembling, and many other evils" and wore away [[Vitalism| "life forces"]] and were poisonous.<ref>''Messenger of the Lord: Prophetic Ministry of Ellen G. White'' by Herbert E. Douglass (1998). Pacific Press Publishing Association. ISBN 0816316228.</ref><ref>[http://www.adventistreview.org/church-news/story2328-no-so-perfect-cup-of-coffee Not-So-Perfect Cup of Coffee. News commentary: We should not forget that it's the same vindicated source of information that protected us from tobacco use that advises against caffeine.] by Elizabeth Ostring (February 22, 2015) ''Adventist Review''.</ref>{{efn|Seventh-day Adventists are also discouraged, by some means or other, from consuming [[alcohol]], [[tobacco]] and illegal [[drugs]].}}

{{wpl|John Harvey Kellogg}} {{lived|1852|1943}}, a Seventh-day Adventist and a protegé of White, was also a rather [[quack]]y medical doctor. Kellogg opposed both tea and coffee because they contained caffeine, regarding anything with caffeine as poisonous.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CBGxvXF332cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=New+Dietetics:+A+Guide+to+Scientific+Feeding+in+Health+and+Disease&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjRosOllo3ZAhWq5IMKHeVwAvkQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=New%20Dietetics%3A%20A%20Guide%20to%20Scientific%20Feeding%20in%20Health%20and%20Disease&f=false ''New Dietetics: A Guide to Scientific Feeding in Health and Disease''] by John Harvey Kellogg (1923) The Modern Medicine Publishing Co.</ref> Kellogg and his brother also invented  the corn flakes breakfast cereal. This invention, and his views on caffeine, inspired one of his patients, {{wpl|C. W. Post||}} {{lived|1854|1914}}.{{efn|Post may not have been an Adventist himself.}}

Post, previously a real-estate developer, was once treated for a mental breakdown at Kellogg's {{wpl|sanitorium||,}}  was afterward inspired to found his own food company, Postum Cereal Co. The company's first product, called {{wpl|Postum||,}} was meant to be a caffeine-free (implicit) coffee substitute. Post made an enormous fortune from the company by using massive amounts of advertising<ref name=pendergrast>''Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World'' by Mark Pendergrast (2010) Basic Books; Revised edition. ISBN 046501836X.</ref> that included both [[vague]], ("There's a Reason") plausible but unsubstantiated ("Mr. Coffee Nerves"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120208015429/http://www.lileks.com/institute/comicsins/comics/coffeenerves/index.htmlScrew You, Ya Jittery Bitch Mwah! The Adventures of Mr Coffee Nerves] by James Lileks (2011) ''Lileks.com'' (archived from February 8, 2012).</ref>) and [[PIDOOMA|wildly unsupported]] attacks against coffee:<ref name=pendergrast/>{{rp|95}}
* "Lost Eyesight through Coffee Drinking" (wait, [[masturbation|this sounds familiar…]])
* "It is safe to say that one person in every three among coffee drinkers has some incipient or advanced form of disease." (as opposed to what percentage in non-drinkers?)
* Coffee contains "a poisonous drug&nbsp;— caffeine, which belongs in the same class of alkaloids with [[cocaine]], morphine, [[nicotine]], and strychnine." (''Clutch those pearls!'')
* "Does it reduce your work time, kill your energy, push you into the big crowd of [[Miscegenation|mongrels]], deaden what [[Eugenics|thorough-bred blood]] you may have and neutralize all your efforts to make [[money]] and fame?" — a direct appeal to [[racism]]
* "Sooner or later the steady drugging will tear down the strong man or woman, and the stomach, bowels, heart, kidneys, nerves, [[brain]] or some other organ connected with the nervous system, will be attacked."

Post's attacks against coffee had a substantial negative impact on coffee sales, and led to the pursuit of decaffeinated coffee, a process that Meyer, Roselius and Wimmer first patented in 1906.<ref name=wild/>{{rp|209-210}}<ref>[https://worldwide.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US897840 US897840A: Preparation of Coffee] ''Espacenet''.</ref> Rather than ending the attacks, decaf has generated its own health scares due to the decaffeination solvents.<ref name=wild/>{{rp|209-211}}

[[Naturopath]]s have also thought that coffee contained poisons and have decried coffee-drinking as an evil habit.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/universalnaturop00lust ''Universal Naturopathic Encyclopedia, Directory and Buyers' Guide: Year Book of Drugless Therapy for 1918-19] by Benedict Lust (editor and publisher) page 25.
</ref> People who dislike bitter tastes might feel inclined to agree.

==Coffee and health meet science==
Scientific studies on the health effects of coffee drinking started at least as early as the 1940s. It wasn't until much later after many studies and the advent of large-scale prospective epidemiological studies that a clearer view has begun to take place.

More than 1000 chemicals have been found in coffee, and of the 30 that have been tested for carcinogenicity in rodents, 21 were carcinogenic at high doses.<ref>[https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cpdb/text/Paustenbach.pdf Misconceptions About the Causes of Cancer] by Lois Swirsky Gold et al. (2002) In: ''Human and Environmental Risk Assessment: Theory and Practice'', edited by D. Paustenbach. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 1415-1460.</ref> However, that is not the whole story: [[The dose makes the poison|high dose studies in rodents of individual chemicals do not mean that moderate consumption of a food or beverage containing them (in small amounts) is carcinogenic to humans]]. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) initially evaluated coffee as being in group 2B ("possibly carcinogenic to the human urinary bladder") in 1991, a weak evaluation supported only by limited evidence.<ref>[https://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol51/mono51.pdf ''Coffee, Tea, Mate, Methylxanthines and Methylglyoxal''] IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, Volume 51 (1991) International Agency for Research on Cancer.</ref> After more evidence became available, IARC reevaluated coffee in 2016 as being in Group 3 ("not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans", the level of least concern).<ref>[https://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2016/pdfs/pr244_E.pdf IARC Monographs evaluate drinking coffee, maté, and very hot beverages] Press release No. 244 (15 June 2016) International Agency for Research on Cancer.</ref> It is important to note that IARC only evaluates potential carcinogenicity of substances, ''not'' anti-carcinogenicity.

An umbrella study of 112 [[meta-analyses]] of observational studies looked at 59 unique health outcomes, and tried to resolve discrepancies among the studies.<ref name=grosso>[http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-nutr-071816-064941 Coffee, Caffeine, and Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review] by Giuseppe Grosso et al. (2017) ''Annual Review of Nutrition'' 37:131-156.</ref> The study found probable evidence that coffee decreased the "risks of breast [[cancer]], colorectal cancer, colon cancer, endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular disease mortality, Parkinson's disease, and type-2 diabetes", and that caffeine also decreased the "risks of Parkinson's disease and type-2 diabetes."<ref name=grosso/> There was also a probable "increased risk of [[pregnancy]] loss" from caffeine consumption,<ref name=grosso/> so caffeine is not recommended for pregnant people.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/after-poring-over-all-the-evidence-experts-declare-coffee-is-mostly-good-for-you/2018/02/02/b45f9f8e-02d1-11e8-8acf-ad2991367d9d_story.html A large analysis shows coffee is mostly good for you, though maybe not if you're pregnant] by Kendall Powell (February 4, 2018) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> There was also weaker evidence that coffee decreased the risk of several other diseases.<ref name=grosso/>

The umbrella study did not examine every possible outcome, and there is good evidence for coffee's positive effects on other health outcomes:
*'''Lifespan''': In a large study (reported in 2012 in the ''New England Journal of Medicine'') of 402,260 participants, unlikely to be superseded by another coffee study anytime soon, it was found that people who drank more than 2 cups of coffee per day were 10-16% less likely to have died than nondrinkers during a 13.6-year period.<ref>[https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coffee-gives-jolt-life-span Coffee gives jolt to life span: Java consumption linked to slightly increased longevity] by Nathan Seppa (May 16, 2012 at 5:13 pm) ''Science News''.</ref> A separate study in 2022 of 171,000 people in the UK found similar results on longevity.<ref>[https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-2977 Association of Sugar-Sweetened, Artificially Sweetened, and Unsweetened Coffee Consumption With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Large Prospective Cohort Study] by Dan Liu et al. (31 May 2022) ''Annals of Internal Medicine'' doi:10.7326/M21-2977.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/may/30/coffee-drinkers-may-be-at-lower-risk-of-early-death-study-suggests Coffee drinkers may be at lower risk of early death, study suggests: Even people who take sugar seem at lower risk, say experts, but results may be due to coffee drinkers being more affluent] by Nicola Davis (30 May 2022 17.00 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref>
*'''[[Suicide]] and depression reduction'''<ref>[http://www.medicaldaily.com/drinking-coffee-reduces-suicide-risk-50-2-4-cups-day-effective-antidepressant-248060 Drinking Coffee Reduces Suicide Risk By 50%: 2 To 4 Cups A Day Is Effective Antidepressant] by Samantha Olson (Jul 26, 2013 01:00 PM) ''Medical Daily''.</ref><ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23819683 Coffee, caffeine, and risk of completed suicide: results from three prospective cohorts of American adults] by M. Lucas et al. (2014) ''World J. Biol. Psychiatry.'' 15(5):377-86. doi:10.3109/15622975.2013.795243.</ref>

===A caveat===
Although coffee drinking has many benefits, drinking unfiltered coffee such as espresso exposes one to the chemical cafestol and to other diterpenes.<ref name=naidoo>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115845/ Cholesterol-raising diterpenes in types of coffee commonly consumed in Singapore, Indonesia and India and associations with blood lipids: A survey and cross sectional study] by Nasheen Naidoo et al. (2011) ''Nutrition Journal'' 10:48. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-48.</ref> Consumption of these diterpenes has the effect of raising one's blood LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which could be bad if one has high cholesterol or is prone to high cholesterol.<ref name=naidoo/><ref>[https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/153/4/353/129046 Coffee Consumption and Serum Lipids: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials] by Sun Ha Jee et al. (2001) ''American Journal of Epidemiology'' 153(4):353–362, https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/153.4.353.</ref>

===California's Proposition 65===
Despite this largely positive evidence for the health benefits of coffee, dozens of coffee companies were sued regarding the carcinogenicity in animals of acrylamide in [[The dose makes the poison|high-dose experiments]] under [[California]]'s [[Proposition 65]]; acrylamide occurs naturally in coffee as well as other foods such as fried potatoes.<ref name=rosenberg>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/03/29/coffee-must-carry-cancer-warning-california-judge-rules/ Starbucks, other coffee companies must have cancer warning label, California judge rules] by Eli Rosenberg (March 29, 2018 at 10:25 PM) ''The Washington Post''.</ref><ref>[https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2018/03/29/california-coffee-shops-may-be-required-to-post-cancer-warnings/ California Coffee Shops May Be Required to Post Cancer Warnings] by Chris Jennewein (March 29, 2018) ''Times of San Diego''.</ref> The judge in the case had tentatively ruled in 2018 against the coffee companies, meaning that the coffee companies would have to post warning signs as well as possibly face fines of up to $2500 per person exposed since 2002.<ref name=rosenberg/> Proposition 65 requires that all businesses that sell products that expose customers to products that contain a chemical on a list of known carcinogens or teratogens post a warning sign on their premises to avoid a lawsuit.<ref>[https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list The Proposition 65 List] Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment</ref> Eventually, the coffee companies won their case on appeal in 2022 and were not required to post Proposition 65 warnings.<ref>[https://grimaldilawoffices.com/coffee-defendants-victorious-in-proposition-65-appeal/ Coffee Defendants Victorious in Proposition 65 Appeal] by Ann Grimaldi (February 27, 2023) ''Grimaldi Law Offices''.</ref><ref>[https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov/fact-sheets/coffee-and-proposition-65-frequently-asked-questions Coffee and Proposition 65: Frequently Asked Questions] ''Proposition 65 Warnings, State of California''.</ref>

==See also==
{{fun|Coffee}}
*For bottoms up approach to coffee, see the [[Colonic#Coffee|Coffee]] section in [[Colonic]]. Unlike coffee drinking, this is not recommended due to some serious potential side effects, and no evidence of benefit.
*[[Caffeine]]
*[[Fair trade]]
*[[Green tea]]
*[[Grand Theft Auto#Hot Coffee Mod|Hot coffee]] (''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'')
*[[Kopi luwak]]
*[[Purported legal highs]]
*[[Fun:Tea]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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