Does Coffee Cause Cancer? And 8 More Myths about the Food We Eat is a 2023 book by Canadian cardiologist Christopher Labos. It presents information about nine health myth through a series of conversations between fictional characters.
The book uses a fictional story to present and dispel misconceptions around nine topics related to food science.[1][2]
The book aims to explain why food science is complex and to debunk some of the food myths that permeate society, with an evolving relationship as a narrative. Labos' publisher suggested he emulate the fictional style of The Wealthy Barber. He ended up developing a nine-chapter story arc featuring conversations between fictional characters that mirror exchanges that Labos had with acquaintances in real life.[1][2][3][4]
The chapters tell a continuous romantic story involving conversations between the protagonist and other people with whom he discussed various health topics.[5][6] Mathematical and methodological discussions are appended to the text, on topics such as demographic selection and p-hacking.[3]
Labos is hoping to write a sequel, for which he wrote a sample chapter.[2]
Topics
The book covers nine topics presented as myths.[7]
The reviews published in local and specialized publications were positive, noting the narrative structure and the informational content.
In The Suburban, Mike Cohen calls it a "fascinating, refreshingly clarifying new book".[4]
On AIPT Science, Adrienne Hill highlights the efforts made by Labos to make the science accessible: "The explanations are straightforward, using analogies to help understand counterintuitive reasoning and conclusions, with a good dose of humor intermixed."[3]
In the Miramichi Reader, Lisa Timpf focused on the readability of the text for a wide audience: "Snappy dialogue, humorous misunderstandings, and some mild teasing about statistics are some of the avenues Labos uses to deliver a laugh."[8]
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