Instant coffee causes cancer, so don’t drink it? No kidding, experts say there is no direct link between the two!

Recently, an article titled "Don't drink instant coffee, it contains more carcinogens than smoking" was widely circulated on WeChat Moments, making many coffee drinkers terrified. The article claimed that instant coffee causes cancer because the concentration of acrylamide in it is higher than that of common carcinogenic foods such as potato chips and cigarettes.

Is it true that coffee causes cancer? Dr. Zhang Zheng, a breast surgeon at Shanghai Red House Hospital, wants to "defend" coffee: It's a bit unfair to say that coffee causes cancer!

Zhang Zheng said that the most important thing to say about coffee is that there is no direct relationship between drinking coffee and breast cancer. Instant coffee does contain acrylamide, which was classified as a Class 2A carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 1994, meaning it is potentially carcinogenic to humans, but there is still a lack of epidemiological evidence. Compared with cigarettes, which have been clearly identified as carcinogens, acrylamide is not at the same level.

In fact, as early as 2008, Beijing Women's and Children's Hospital conducted a study on the relationship between dietary habits and breast cancer incidence. The results showed that the incidence of breast cancer in people who drink coffee is no different from that in people who do not drink coffee, and is even slightly lower than that in people who do not drink coffee. This is completely contrary to the many online theories that coffee causes cancer!

Let's look at the foreign research, an article published in the authoritative journal "Breast Cancer" in 2015. This study brought together 23 research centers in 10 European coffee-consuming countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Spain, with a total of 20 years of data statistics of more than 300,000 people. The final conclusion is still that coffee drinks, whether caffeinated or not, have no direct relationship with breast cancer. Even among postmenopausal women, the incidence of breast cancer is lower in the group that drinks coffee. So, from a certain perspective, coffee can also prevent breast cancer.

In fact, compared with breast cancer, women are more likely to get lobular hyperplasia. It is important to reiterate that most lobular hyperplasia of the breast is not necessarily related to breast cancer, and the more pain you feel in lobular hyperplasia, the more serious it is. Coffee is not the culprit of lobular hyperplasia, at best it can only be considered an accomplice. Zhang Zheng suggests that if you have been in poor health recently and have unbearable chest pain before menstruation, a low-fat diet plus reducing the intake of caffeine-rich foods such as coffee, cola, tea, and chocolate can relieve the pain. In addition, people who already have heart problems such as arrhythmia are not recommended to drink too much.

Related reading: Five tips to prevent breast hyperplasia

Pay attention to the physiological cycle. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are good ways to prevent breast hyperplasia. Adequate secretion of progesterone can effectively protect and repair the mammary glands; and breastfeeding can make the mammary glands fully develop and degenerate well after weaning.

Sleeping regularly is not only good for balancing endocrine, but also provides a good environment for various hormones in the body to play a balanced role in health. By regulating endocrine and menstruation, it can also prevent and treat breast hyperplasia.

Harmonious sex life A harmonious sex life can regulate endocrine and increase the protection and repair of breasts. Orgasm stimulation can also accelerate blood circulation and prevent breast hyperplasia due to poor blood circulation.

Be in a good mood every day . If you are in a good mood, the secretion of progesterone will not decrease, and the breast will not proliferate due to the unilateral stimulation of estrogen. The already proliferated breast will gradually recover under the care of progesterone.

Eat more whole-grain foods, beans and vegetables to increase the body's metabolic pathways. Control the intake of animal protein to avoid excessive estrogen and breast hyperplasia.

(Content compiled from "Health Times")

Editor: Wang Xiaolei

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