BOSTON, MA–Good news for coffee drinkers: according to a new study, drinking at least four cups of coffee per day is associated with a lower risk for endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterine lining) is the most common form of uterine cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, there are about 46,000 new cases and 8,000 deaths yearly from the disease.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, found that after controlling for a number of factors, compared with women who drank less than one cup of coffee a day, those who drank four or more cups had a 25% lower risk of endometrial cancer. Neither decaffeinated coffee nor tea drinking was associated with a risk reduction; thus, the authors were unable to determine whether caffeine or some other ingredient in coffee causes the effect. Of interest, however, lead author Youjin Je, noted that “a substantial amount of sugar, cream or milk added to coffee can negate the potential benefits.” She also noted that drinking four cups of coffee a day has no negative effects for healthy women. .Ms. Je is a doctoral student in the lab of Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD, from the Department of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public. She and her colleagues published their findings online November 22 in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Using prospective data from the Nurses’ Health Study, the researchers examined the link between drinking coffee and endometrial cancer risk. The study included data from 67,470 women aged 34 to 59 years in 1980. Cumulative average coffee intake was determined via a questionnaire. During 26 years of follow-up, the researchers documented 672 cases of endometrial cancer. Drinking fewer than four cups of coffee per day was not associated with a change in endometrial cancer risk compared with drinking one or less cups per day. The researchers accounted for numerous factors in their analysis, including BMI, age at menopause, age at menarche, parity (number of pregnancies) and age at last birth, oral contraceptive use, postmenopausal hormone use, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

Drinking four or more cups of coffee per day was associated with a 25% relative risk reduction compared with consuming less than one cup daily. Drinking between two and three cups of coffee per day was linked with a 7% reduced risk; however, the difference was not statistically significant. In terms of absolute risk reduction, women who drank four or more cups of coffee reduced their risk for endometrial cancer from 56 cases per 100,000 women to 35 cases per 100,000 women. The researchers found a similar association when they restricted their analysis to caffeinated coffee consumption. In that case, there was a 30% relative risk reduction in endometrial cancer risk associated with consumption of four or more cups compared with less than one cup a day. For decaffeinated coffee consumption, drinking two or more cups per day was linked with a 22% relative reduction in risk for endometrial cancer vs. drinking less than one cup per month; however, the difference was not statistically significant.

In subgroup analyses, there was a stronger inverse association with high coffee intake among obese women. The authors wrote: “Because obese women tend to have insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and relatively low levels of [sex hormone binding globulin], the potential abilities of coffee to improve those conditions may have contributed to a decreased risk of endometrial cancer among obese women.” Dr. Giovanucci noted, “Coffee has already been shown to be protective against diabetes due to its effect on insulin; so we hypothesized that we’d see a reduction in some cancers as well.” According to Dr. Giovannucci, laboratory testing has found that coffee has many more antioxidants than most vegetables and fruits.
endometrial cancer

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The capital of the province of Ontario in the Great White North, Toronto came slower to coffee than its West Coast kin. But from the first gasps in late 2006 to today’s wild proliferation of artisanal shops (many of which are now onto their second, third or fourth location) there’s no questioning the boom has hit—and hard. New local roasters like Detour, Te Aro, and Social are flanked by cadres of upscale coffee-gear-purveyors and friendly baristas slinging capps from Roncesvalles practically to Pape. Here are six of the top shops in Toronto to get your Canadian coffee tour underway.

Toronto may be too humble to boast a true “celebrity coffee bar”, but if it’s got a marquee barista, Sam James is he. This congenial regional champion can be found behind his eponymous bar (or his other eponymous bar, the Sam James Pocket Bar on Bloor West) most days of the week, excited as anything to prepare you a stellar shot of espresso or a sawtooth-festooned latte. Though James’ teeny-tiny shop is more hipster-gritty than some, the constantly fine-tuned espresso drinks are consistently exceptional. Espresso and featured single origin coffees hail from Quebec roaster Toi, Moi et Cafe. There’s not much room to linger (unless you want a tattoo next door), but grab a macchiato and a pastry and make a moment of it.

297 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON M6G 1G7 Canada (map)
647-341-2572; samjamescoffeebar.com
(and one other location)

The music’s too loud? Then you’re too old for Mercury Espresso Bar, a Leslieville outpost that broached the dawn of Toronto’s coffee revolution in 2007, slamming out sludgy espresso-only drinks to music as joyously loud as the coffee tasted. The shop’s matured a little—you’ll find not only concessions to filter coffee (heck, you can order a syphon or Chemex prepared at certain times of day!) but explorations in single origin espresso, a variety of quality roasters like George Howell’s Alchemy, and more. A neighborhood spot that’s gone from oasis to anchor, and has been more than willing to advance quality along with the city’s rising sophistication. (And they have a lovely patio if you don’t like the music they’re playing.)

915 Queen Street East, Toronto ON M4M 1J4 Canada (map)
647-435-4779; mercuryespresso.com

Though Toronto’s serious coffee scene may skew towards bike messenger chic more often than not, the growing empire of Dark Horse Espresso Bars (now up to three) is the grown-up coffee drinker’s respite. From the original shop in the East end stretching down to Spadina and now popping up near Trinity Bellwoods Park, partners Ed Lynds and Deanna Zunde have created exceptionally beautiful spaces that respond to their neighborhoods, filled them with rough-hewn common tables positioned just right for sunbeams, and filled the cups on those tables with carefully prepared coffees. Focusing on espresso but incorporating French Press for the drip set, and serving beans from local roaster Detour, there’s no element of care overlooked in any Dark Horse space. Stop in at their newest on Queen West to enjoy a drink at what’s become a true Toronto establishment.

684 Queen Street West, Toronto ON M6J 1E5 Canada (map)
647-352-3512; www.darkhorseespresso.com
(and two other locations)

Born and bred in Toronto’s Junction, Crema’s message of silky-smooth, gracefully served coffee drinks has spread all over Toronto, it would seem, they’re celebrating the opening of their fourth coffee bar on the Danforth this summer. The shop—the former Sweet Tooth bakery—is clean and crisp with the perfect Greektown window seat at which to enjoy a richly textured cappuccino. Still loyal since their first shop opened to Vancouver-based 49th Parallel roasters, the latter’s sweet, balanced espressos and more adventurous filter brews are on offer here via La Marzocco FB80 and a manual pourover bar. Cupcakes are here as well—and panini, if you go that way alongside your coffee. Though the quality is a little more neighborhood-pleasing than competition-calibre, it can’t help but be a pleasant coffee experience.

508 Danforth Ave, Toronto ON M4K 1P6 Canada (map)
416-901-3131; cremacoffee.ca
(and 3 other locations)

Located in the former offices of Vice Magazine (don’t worry, they hosed it down) has sprung this years-overdue truly Parkdale style shop. From alumni of Mercury Espresso and Blondie’s (just across the way) comes this ultra-sunny, rock and roll espresso bar, all church pews and old wood and very fancy bicycles. Serving up George Howell’s Alchemy Espresso alongside selections from BC-based Origins, and other roasters, the owner-baristas bring their A-game to a welcoming neighborhood that was forced to linger without legit espresso drinks for far too long. (French presses are on in the morning, as well, and a V60 pourover can be arranged if you’re extra nice.) A charming atmosphere with in-house baking make your drink order “to stay”.

1349 Queen Street West, Toronto ON M6K 2S1 (map)

One of Toronto’s true geeked-out coffee pioneers, Matt Lee opened Manic Coffee in 2007 to an unsuspecting campusy strip of College Street, only to turn tides as well as tastes. The shop’s recent summer renovations will include a space for handcrafted, in-house gelato, which accompany an already highest-bar approach to espresso and filter coffee techniques. Never satisfied to dwell too long on one idea, Lee’s shop will likely be the first place to challenge the tried-and-true method or bean alongside the trendy, and serve whatever tastes best (Lee’s eschewed the five-figure Clover machine for a return to “correctly brewed” French press, among other things.)The shop currently has coffee on offer from local roaster Social as well as Intelligentsia, and is a must-stop on any Toronto coffee tour.

426 College Street, Toronto ON M5T 1T3 (map)
416-966-3888; maniccoffee.com

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A consumer who purchases “fair trade coffee” can reasonably assume that their purchase is supporting typically economically disenfranchised farm workers, but the money is actually going toward supporting middle class farmers.

“The primary focus and beneficiary [of fair trade] is the small farmer, who, in turn, is defined as a small landowner,” Haight writes. “The poorest segment of the farming community, however, is the migrant laborer who does not have the resources to own land and thus cannot be part of a [fair-trade] cooperative.”

Basically, buying fair trade coffee isn’t fighting poverty.

Not only are you not really helping the poorest people, but, even sweetened with the assurance that the people who brought you your coffee were paid fairly, the quality of the coffee you’re buying is actually shit.

“Low consumer demand for Fair Trade coffee means that not all of a particular farmer’s coffee, which will be of varying quality, may be sold at the Fair Trade price,” Colleen Haight writes in “The Problem With Fair Trade Coffee,” an article in the summer 2011 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. “To maximize his income, therefore, he will choose to sell his lower quality coffee as Fair Trade coffee,” while letting the good stuff fetch even higher prices than the fair-trade price floor.

So it wasn’t your imagination- fair trade coffee does actually sometimes sort of taste like the water that accumulates in a used ashtray after a rainstorm.

What’s a fair trade-minded consumer to do? Unfortunately, for the time being, you’ll have to rely on the new fair trade rating system being developed by Starbucks and other massive coffee retailers. Either that or spend your days forsaking coffee entirely and plodding through the day half asleep and cranky.

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Other findings: while most coffee drinkers surveyed (thankfully) are not so addicted to caffeine as to trade their cup of coffee for their jobs, cars, or sex, four out of 10 surveyed would choose coffee over alcohol or a trip to see Harry Potter or any other movie. Overall, 40% of the total number of respondents are struck by some sort of inspiration during their daily coffee break.

What may be the ultimate source of inspiration, however, is an answer that doesn’t appear to be on the survey at all: coffee at a TED talk. Between undoubtedly inspiring talks by the likes of Malcolm Gladwell and Rebecca MacKinnon, attendees at last week’s 2011 TEDGlobal Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland sipped and learned about coffee from the world-class baristas of Coffee Common. That nexus of great muses and great coffee quite possibly may have been off the charts on Don Francisco’s Inspiration Index.

We can’t bring that experience to you, but we can offer the next best thing: Steven Johnson at his 2010 TED talk on how coffee houses, among other places, are one of the many places that can give birth to great ideas. The only thing you need is the coffee.

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Marvel is providing full access to its Digital Comics Unlimited service, which features thousands of issues of Marvel’s back catalog starring Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, X-Men, and tons more. The service typically costs subscribers about $60/year. If you frequent both your local Starbucks and IGN Comics, this should come as exciting news. The comics are available for reading as long as you are connected to the store’s Wi-Fi.

As a former Starbucks employee, coffee enthusiast, and comic book nerd, know that I can’t stress my excitement enough.

We broke down the realm of digital comics a while back in IGN’s Guide to Digital Comics, but we can’t see a downside of getting access to thousands of comics while sitting in a coffee shop. Unless, of course, you are sitting in said coffee shop to get work done. Then you’re screwed.

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Sarika Connoisseur Cafe Pte, owner of 30 coffee shop outlets in Singapore, is trying to pass off the Nutello drink as being associated with Nutella, Ferrero claimed in a lawsuit filed in Singapore High Court.

“Nutella is an invented word; it’s highly distinctive,” Ferrero’s lawyer M. Ravindran told Judge Chan Seng Onn at the start of a trial today. The mark is the lifeblood of the product, he said. The trial is scheduled to run till April 15.

Sarika has denied wrongdoing. There’s no similarity between the “Nutella” and “Nutello” marks, which have different fonts, designs and color schemes, and the public isn’t likely to be confused by the two, its lawyer Tan Tee Jim said in a submission to the court.

Ferrero, which has 21,500 employees and 18 factories around the world, also makes Ferrero Rocher truffles and tic tac sweets.

Michele Ferrero and his family ranked 32nd among the world’s wealthiest people with $18 billion, Forbes magazine’s U.S. edition reported in March.

The case is Ferrero Spa v Sarika Connoisseur Cafe Pte. S9/2010 in the Singapore High Court. View the original article here