Dust Off The Shovels: Quick Burst Of Snow Targets Mid-Atlantic, I-95 Corridor
Update (Saturday morning):
Dust off your snow shovels and fill up those snowblowers with gasoline, or if you’ve splurged this year on a fancy robot snowblower, plug it in and charge the batteries today.
The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are preparing for the season’s first significant snowfall event, with accumulating snow expected in metro areas near I-95. It is a fast-moving clipper storm expected to arrive overnight.
“An area of low pressure will redevelop off the coast Saturday night into Sunday morning with snow developing by 12 a.m. The snow will mix with rain at times in Zones 4 and 5. All snow is expected to continue through 8 a.m. Sunday and then taper off from northwest to southeast through 1 p.m. Sunday,” a meteorologist at NY NJ PA Weather wrote in a report.
NY NJ PA Weather noted that the heaviest snowfall favors interior areas, while coastal zones may see periods of rain before transitioning to snow. Accumulating snow is possible near the I-95 corridor, including areas around Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City.
Impacts by zone (courtesy of NY NJ PA Weather):
Zone 1: Snow showers, trace to 1 inch
Zone 2: Light snow, 1 to 3 inches
Zone 3: Moderate snow, 3 to 6 inches
Zone 4: Rain changing to snow, 1 to 3 inches
Zone 5: Rain changing to snow, trace to 1 inch
What other meteorologists and weather observers are saying:
DECEMBER 14 SNOW FORECAST
A plowable snow of 3-5″ is expected for snow starved areas near and below I-95 from Baltimore to the Cape. Fairly bullish due to favorable snow growth and banding potential. Less snow as one moves inland. Will be in and out before noon Sunday. pic.twitter.com/jhgUP2C4dm
❄️ANOTHER WINTER STORM IS COMING❄️
A strong Alberta Clipper Snow Storm will bring significant accumulating snow to the Midwest and Ohio Valley on Saturday.
Widespread Snow of 3–6 inches is expected, with some of the hardest hit cities including Springfield IL, Indianapolis,… pic.twitter.com/4Cf5mWh2oy
Ahead of next week’s return to global warming, thank you, Al Gore, for listening to our prayers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast after weeks of below-average temperatures that felt like the Arctic. A weekend snowstorm is set to blanket the region with accumulating snow.
The NWS Weather Prediction Center published a new snowfall forecast for a weekend winter storm that stretches from the northern High Plains of Montana through the Ohio Valley, the central Appalachians, and the Northeast, including major cities from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston.
Private weather forecaster Weather Madness noted on X, “I expect an Arctic low to develop along the Arctic front, which could produce extra snow along the I-95 corridor from NYC to DCA.”
Weather Madness expects parts of the Mid-Atlantic to receive 4 to 8 inches.
Meteorologist Steven DiMartino at NY NJ PA Weather published a short video earlier that details the incoming snow threat for the Mid-Atlantic area.
Mother Nature will take out her paint brush and color in the Northeast along the coast including NYC and Boston with “blue coloring” or more than 2″ of snowfall ❄️and then just about everyone will have had snow before December 15th.
Meteorologist Ben Noll said, “A whopping 235 million people across the United States have experienced well below-average temperatures so far this December.”
Next week, much milder air from the West will erase the chill in the East.
There are signs these warmer conditions may stick around leading up to Christmas. pic.twitter.com/0AlWkQYWvp
Europe Continues To Interfere In Ukraine’s Last Chance For Peace
For those who understand the basics of attrition warfare, the outcome of the fight in Ukraine was obvious a long time ago. Russia’s superior logistical position along with its grinding offensive tactics have worn down Ukraine’s defenses and left the country with a desperate manpower shortage. The recent capture of the vital hub of Pokrovsk has now opened the door to an accelerating Russian advance.
The Russian offensive is gaining significant ground from Pokrovsk to the north, all the way to Kupiansk. The strategic city of Siversk is now largely under control of Russia according to geo-location mapping. Myrnohrad, also near Pokrovsk, has been flattened by artillery and FABs.
Ukraine’s ability to stall Russian forces is faltering, allowing the Kremlin to move troops in a swift manner closer to maneuver warfare instead of the slow and methodical process of attrition. Ukraine continues to deny they are in trouble, but the writing is on the wall.
This helps to explain Europe’s sudden interest in “peace negotiation”, but not for the purposes of establishing actual peace. First and foremost, we know Europe is not interested in peace because they largely refuse to engage directly with Putin and Russia in negotiations.
Instead, European leaders continue to pretend as if they can establish a peace deal unilaterally without involving the Kremlin. They have also consistently tried to sabotage Donald Trump’s efforts for a quick resolution by deluding Zelensky with promises of access to Russian assets.
The Europeans have in fact announced their plan to confiscate Russian assets that have been frozen since the beginning of the war, using them to help fund Ukraine’s military and infrastructure. Trump had initially intended to use those assets as a bargaining chip to convince the Russians to support his peace plan.
Zelensky and European officials have spoken often about sustaining the war for at least another two years, which is foolish given the current state of Ukraine’s front lines. Russia does not need to conquer vast swaths of territory to win, all Russia needs to do is kill Ukrainian troops until there aren’t enough left to maintain a proper defensive line. After that, Zelensky will lose the whole country, not just the eastern third.
Europe also continues to push for troop deployments, using NATO as a “peacekeeping force” as part of the negotiations. Putin has repeatedly stated that this would lead to wider war. After all, it was the encroachment of NATO into Ukraine over a decade ago that ultimately triggered the current war.
In a recent admission, Trump asserted that there will be no more handouts from the US to Ukraine, ending speculation on whether or not the hundreds of billions of dollars in US aid would continue under his administration. The statement comes just after Trump’s revelation that Zelensky “had not even read the US peace proposal” despite other Ukrainian officials supporting the plan.
NATO and EU leaders claim that Russia is in financial peril due to sanctions and other measures, but there isn’t enough evidence to support this theory. Russia has seen a slowdown in GDP and PMI, but so has 70% of all other national economies in the face of a global decline in economic activity.
Ukraine drone strikes on Russian infrastructure have been increasingly ineffective. Their most recent attack involved nearly 300 drones with minimal success. Ukraine called for a truce on attacks on energy infrastructure, indicating that their strikes are not doing as much damage as they would like. The Kremlin rejected the offer.
🚨🇬🇧 “The Defence Minister said – the UK is rapidly developing plans to prepare the whole country for war”
“The sense that war isn’t that far away from us – what does that do to people here?”
EU & UK Politicians along with NATO have seriously been ramping up the wartime… pic.twitter.com/N4DUWlptbS
It would appear that the Europeans are trying to use peace negotiations as a way to stop Russia’s advance, arguing that there can be no peace until Russia agrees to a ceasefire. As any tactician knows, ceasefires are often nothing more than a way to stall an offensive in order to gain an advantage over an enemy who thinks you are sincere.
Europe’s behavior indicates they have no intention of ending the war. Instead, they seem hellbent on expanding the conflict and turning it into a world war.
Nothing bothers the European elite as much as American conservatives praising the European foundations of their shared, but threatened, Western civilization.
Europeans especially resent having their social-welfare state system critiqued by upstart, crass Americans.
Their pique only increases as they push back against the condescending American idea that the U.S. could possibly offer any constructive advice, much less help a more civilized Europe follow the “American model.”
Americans, in turn, are worried that Europe is not just stagnating but is on a trajectory of permanent decline—with dire consequences for the entire Western world.
As for symptoms, the U.S. cites a steadily declining European share of world GDP. It points to Europe’s unsustainable 1.39 fertility rate, which ensures a steadily smaller, older, and costlier native population.
More than ten percent of Europe’s resident population is now foreign-born—some 45 million people. However, the European host, unlike a classless America, does not have a long tradition of melting-pot assimilation, integration, and acculturation.
Unlike America’s mostly Christian-nation immigration patterns, European immigrants are predominantly from the Middle East and North Africa, Islamic, and increasingly anti-Western.
Far too many of Europe’s immigrants profess too little desire to assimilate into what they consider a culturally decadent place—one that, ironically, they have no desire to leave.
The Christian Church, the linchpin of Western civilization, was born in Europe. Yet nowhere do atheism, agnosticism, and open hostility to Christendom grow stronger.
Europe, the birthplace of a dynamic Western military tradition, has been, by contemporary standards and at least until recently, virtually disarmed and unable to protect its own borders or interests.
Europe’s overregulation and war on fossil fuels, combined with a generous social welfare state, have resulted in too little revenue and too many costly dependents.
Americans dare to lecture Europe because the same Western pathologies—open borders, unassimilated immigrants, tribalism, declining fertility, green fanaticism, unsustainable budget deficits, and massive national debt—are likewise beginning to threaten America.
But unlike Europe, millions of Americans at the eleventh hour are galvanizing to stop their own insidious downward spiral.
So Americans claim to know firsthand the causes for these shared, but even more distressing, European symptoms of decay.
And their answers are the threats of several dangerous ideologies.
One pathology is green fanaticism, which has led Europeans to not only ignore their fossil fuel resources but also to dismantle existing coal, nuclear, and natural gas plants.
That suicidal folly ensured that transportation fuels and electrical power became so exorbitant that once sought-after European exports are now uncompetitive, while Europe’s strapped middle classes slip into poverty.
Meanwhile, China funds green causes in the West, exports below-cost cheap wind and solar systems, and then builds three coal or nuclear plants a month to ensure that it has much cheaper energy than the green West.
Other existential threats are diversity/equity/inclusion mandates—a precivilizational emphasis on tribal affinities of race and religion rather than shared national values and unity. The results are legions of drone DEI commissars who sow disunity, spike racial tensions, wage war on meritocracy, and increase overhead.
America further warns Europe that only cutbacks in unsustainable entitlements can allow it to reboot its militaries enough to prevent Russian bullying and threats of attack, protect supply lines of imported fuels and natural resources, and deter terrorists.
And what happens if a petulant and snarky Europe utterly rejects the American diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis?
America will decide that it can no longer afford, as NATO’s leader, to protect European borders when it struggles at home to ensure its own.
Nor can the U.S. understand an increasingly two-faced Europe.
One of its faces is the self-righteous 27-member European Union that is becoming increasingly anti-American.
The EU attacks the U.S. nonstop on matters of culture, energy, trade, censorship, and foreign policy.
Yet nearly the same nations of a 32-member NATO alliance—Europe’s other face—praise America for its military leadership and call for closer U.S.-European strategic relations.
This one-eyed Jack policy of censoring and fining American companies, blasting American allies at the United Nations, and belittling conservative, Christian, and traditional American culture, while praising the U.S. military and courting its armed assistance, is simply not sustainable.
Is there a solution? Perhaps, given that both civilizations are offering diametrically opposed correctives to their shared morbidities.
Europe is only growing more socialist, censorious, globalist, pacifist, multicultural, atheistic, and green.
In contrast, the U.S. is undergoing a counter-revolution toward smaller government, fewer regulations, more fossil fuels, an expanding military, less DEI and woke, more secure borders, legal-only immigration, and renewed faith.
Only one of these competing solutions will solve the shared crisis of Western civilization.
And let us hope the one remedy that works will be fully adopted by both.
The Trump administration said on Dec. 10 that it would transfer roughly 760 acres of public land along the U.S.-Mexico border in California to the Navy for three years to support border security operations.
While announcing the decision Wednesday, the Interior Department said the land would become part of a “National Defense Area,” or militarized zone,to bolster immigration enforcement.
The land stretches from roughly a mile west of the California-Arizona state line to the western edge of the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area in San Diego and Imperial counties, according to the Interior Department.
“This corridor is one of the highest-traffic regions for unlawful crossings along the southern border, creating significant national security challenges and contributing to environmental degradation,” the department said.
The Interior Department said the land was originally set aside in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt for “border protection purposes,” and the Navy will use it to “strengthen operational capabilities while reducing ecological harm associated with sustained illegal activity.”
Since April, the federal government has transferred large portions of land along the southern border to the military, allowing troops to detain migrants attempting to cross the border or arrest people accused of trespassing on military bases.
The process began with a 170-mile swath of land along the border in New Mexico before the government expanded into Texas and Arizona.
While the Interior Department referred to the Southern California lands as a high-traffic area for illegal border crossings, arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped to the lowest level since the 1960s as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration.
“President Trump has made it clear that securing our border and restoring American sovereignty are top national priorities,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
“This action delivers on that commitment. By working with the Navy to close longstanding security gaps, we are strengthening national defense, protecting our public lands from unlawful use, and advancing the president’s agenda to put the safety and security of the American people first.”
The department said it coordinated closely with the Navy to make sure that the transfer is targeted and legal and that it reinforces the “historic role public lands have played in safeguarding national sovereignty.”
The announcement came shortly after a federal judge ordered the federal government to cease deploying California’s National Guard in Los Angeles and restore control of the troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Washington, D.C. leads the nation with an average balance of $7,684, reflecting high living costs and larger credit lines.
State
Value
Alaska
$7.7K
Alabama
$6.0K
Arkansas
$5.8K
Arizona
$6.7K
California
$7.0K
Colorado
$6.9K
Connecticut
$7.0K
District of Columbia
$7.7K
Delaware
$6.6K
Florida
$7.0K
Georgia
$7.1K
Hawaii
$7.3K
Iowa
$5.3K
Idaho
$6.1K
Illinois
$6.4K
Indiana
$5.5K
Kansas
$5.9K
Kentucky
$5.5K
Louisiana
$6.3K
Massachusetts
$6.4K
Maryland
$7.2K
Maine
$5.8K
Michigan
$5.8K
Minnesota
$5.8K
Missouri
$5.9K
Mississippi
$5.7K
Montana
$6.1K
North Carolina
$6.3K
North Dakota
$5.8K
Nebraska
$5.7K
New Hampshire
$6.4K
New Jersey
$7.1K
New Mexico
$6.0K
Nevada
$7.2K
New York
$6.7K
Ohio
$5.7K
Oklahoma
$6.2K
Oregon
$6.3K
Pennsylvania
$6.0K
Rhode Island
$6.4K
South Carolina
$6.4K
South Dakota
$5.7K
Tennessee
$6.2K
Texas
$7.0K
Utah
$6.3K
Virginia
$7.0K
Vermont
$5.8K
Washington
$6.8K
Wisconsin
$5.2K
West Virginia
$5.5K
Wyoming
$6.3K
National Average
$6.5K
Alaska is in second place at $7,683, a trend often linked to higher prices and fewer local retail banking options. Hawaii ranks third at $7,330. Coastal states like California, New Jersey, and Maryland also show above-average balances, consistent with higher incomes but also higher spending.
States with the Lowest Balances
Wisconsin posts the lowest average balance at $5,206, well below the U.S. average. Iowa and West Virginia follow with balances under $5,500, reflecting more conservative credit usage in these regions.
Many low-debt states also report strong payment behavior, with higher percentages of consumers maintaining positive standing on revolving accounts.
Credit Lines and Consumer Activity
Higher-balance states generally have higher credit lines, such as D.C. at over $34,000 per consumer. Conversely, states with lower average balances often have tighter credit availability, such as Mississippi at just over $19,000.
Despite the variation, more than 80% of consumers in nearly all states have active revolving accounts, showing how widespread credit card use remains.
According to the Association of the U.S. Army, the crisis of doctor shortages has been increasing for years, which negatively affects military readiness. Their own report cited the inability of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to recruit and retain enough doctors. As the number of military physicians has consistently decreased, the armed services have been forced to close some hospitals, to lower other hospitals to clinic status, and to use nurses and technicians as “physician extenders.”
More recently, leading U.S. physicians have spoken out about the largest healthcare monopoly in the country that we have ever seen, which also involves our medical residency programs. This too affects military readiness.
A renowned doctor recently wrote an OpEd in the Wall Street Journal scratching the surface on this crisis. He described how the private American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) acts like a regulator, hamstringing physicians with endless fees, paperwork, and testing.
Not only doctors are sounding the alarm. Adam Candeub, leading antitrust attorney and current General Counsel to the FCC, stated in his white paper titled The American Board of Medical Specialties: Certification and The Need for Antitrust Enforcement, that “board certification serves as medicine’s gatekeeper.” He went on to say that “competition among organizations providing these certification services drives innovation and lowers healthcare costs. The domination of the American Board of Medical Specialists (ABMS) over certification is dramatically raising certification costs and indirectly accreditation costs throughout medicine, decreasing access to physicians, increasing already exploding medical budgets, and reducing healthcare innovation.”
The urgent issue is this self proclaimed “Gold Standard and Gatekeeper” has created the largest monopoly in physician care that we’ve ever seen. All the while contributing to our current and growing physician shortages. It is important to note that testing is a key component that ensures physicians meet the very standards needed for higher quality care for all Americans.
The ABMS has long been working with the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to corner the market on physician board certification. Their collusive relationship, which began when ABMS co-founded the ACGME, can be considered one of the root causes of physician shortages throughout the country, the military, and within key specialties. The impact can be seen in every aspect of our health care system, greatly contributing to shortages in specialties within primary care, especially access to much-needed specialties for 21st-century medicine throughout rural America. These include emergency and integrative medicine as well as family medicine obstetrics.
In March, the Republican leadership of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel launched a probe into the nation’s medical residency system. The ACGME was one of the organizations asked to provide documents to the Committee along with the AMA and major universities. U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), said “for years, resident wages have remained stagnant while doctor shortages have increased, which harms medical students and hospital patients, and forces us to rely on foreign talent to fill the gap.”
With the Trump Administration’s mandate to end bureaucracies and monopolies within our healthcare system, Congress and HHS need to act now. The collusive activities of the ABMS and the ACGME have suppressed innovation and restricted access across the country. In addition, their bureaucratic control has gone beyond that of federal agencies such as HHS, as they now hold the Defense Health Agency under regulatory capture. This resulted in limiting our military’s ability to access much needed physician care. This drastically impacts not just military personnel, but global readiness.
Many have spoken on the impact on maternal care, as pregnant servicewomen and military spouses often have to travel hours away or even back to mainland U.S. for months at a time to have their baby alone.
Now more than ever we need Congress and HHS to investigate the root causes of doctor shortages which in turn helps strengthen our military.
Jeff Morris, JD is CEO of American Board of Physician Specialties.
Joe Kent Sounds Alarm: Biden’s Border Invasion Flooded Nation With 18,000 Known And Suspected Terrorists
In the wake of last month’s shooting of two National Guard service members just blocks from the White House by a radicalized Afghan national who entered the U.S. under the Biden-Harris regime, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent warned the House Homeland Security Committee that the Homeland faces an elevated terrorism risk tied to years of nation-killing open border policies.
On Thursday, Kent testified that the NCTC has identified 18,000 “known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country.”
He continued, “These are individuals who, under normal circumstances, would never be allowed to enter our country because of their ties to jihadi groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Yet, the Biden administration not only let them into the country, but in many cases facilitated their entry into the country.”
Kent’s testimony and exchanges with members of Congress provided a glimpse into what some of the deepest national security circles in Washington are clearly thinking, informed by their intelligence sources both overseas and domestically.
Kent called Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 under Biden and shot the soldiers in D.C., killing one, “the Afghan terrorist.”
“The individual terrorist who committed the attack in D.C. was vetted to serve as a soldier in Afghanistan. The Biden administration essentially used his tactical-level vetting, and we are seeing the tragic results of that now,” he said, adding, “That Afghan attacker is just one of 88,000. We’ve identified 2,000 who have ties to terrorist organizations.”
.@NCTCKent: “So far, NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists that the Biden administration let come into our country.” pic.twitter.com/XPrHdKMICK
One of the few other individuals in the public domain who has warned repeatedly, sometimes in a sensational way, is former CIA targeting officer Sarah Adams. She has warned about al-Qaeda sleeper cells.
More recently, Adams warned, “It’s past time @DHSgov stops playing pretend and finally raises the terrorism threat level in this country. We have more than 10,000 Islamist terrorists on our soil, and they cannot keep looking the other way. They don’t get to pad their stats by slapping the terrorist label on everyday criminals while ignoring the actual extremists already here. This is dereliction, full stop.”
It’s past time @DHSgov stops playing pretend and finally raises the terrorism threat level in this country. We have more than 10,000 Islamist terrorists on our soil, and they cannot keep looking the other way. They don’t get to pad their stats by slapping the terrorist label on…
That may be the real reason the Trump administration has deployed National Guard troops in several major cities. There is clearly much the public is not being told, and the threat cannot be dismissed, given that the previous administration intentionally collapsed the nation’s border and allowed for an invasion. Kent’s comments reinforce the urgency in national security circles to address incoming threats to the Homeland.
No Confirmation Of U.S. Fighter Jet Over Venezuelan Airspace, Flight Tracking Data Sparks False Alarm
Update (2144ET):
Flightradar24’s software-generated estimate of the U.S. military F/A-18E Super Hornet (RHINO51) initially showed the aircraft’s flight path entering Venezuelan airspace. The data has since shown that this was not the case.
“The black dashed line is an ESTIMATED position based on a few variables and is not the actual track, which on @flightradar24 is shown as a blue line,” X account OSINT noted.
No.
The black dashed line is an ESTIMATED position based on a few variables and is not the actual track, which on @flightradar24 is shown as a blue line. https://t.co/2FzucIEIba
The flight-tracking website Flightradar24reports that a U.S. military F/A-18E Super Hornet (RHINO51) entered Venezuelan airspace near the country’s northern coast just moments ago.
It appears RHINO51 switched off its transponder. More than 113,000 Flightradar24 users tracked the aircraft.
The U.S. military has not confirmed that the fighter jet entered Venezuelan airspace.
Here’s what OSINT folks on X are saying:
🚨✈️ Contacto cercano confirmado
F/A-18E Super Hornet (U.S. Navy)
📛 Callsign: RHINO51
📍 Trayectoria directa hacia costa norte de Venezuela (eje Curazao–Coro)
Patrón indica push táctico bajo cobertura previa AWACS (E-2D).
No es tránsito: es presencia activa y control del… pic.twitter.com/iGn9kWeOug
Hours ago, President Trump said, “It’s not only land strikes on Venezuela, it’s land strikes on horrible people that are bringing in drugs and killing our people you know If we were at war and we lost 200–300 thousand… that’s a war.”
President Trump: “It’s not only land strikes on Venezuela, it’s land strikes on horrible people that are bringing in drugs and killing our people you know If we were at war and we lost 200–300 thousand… that’s a war.” pic.twitter.com/PVMymgWaCh
Coffee is beloved for its caffeine kick and flavor, but it also helps reduce risks from chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease thanks to high levels of antioxidants and other bioactive compounds.
However, along with its nutty flavor and comforting aroma, researchers have found traces of potentially cancer-causing roasting byproducts, mycotoxins from mold, cholesterol-raising compounds, and even pesticide residues that can linger from farm to mug.
The good news is that the choices you make, from the type of coffee you buy to how you store, prepare, and drink it, can reduce these and other unwanted compounds swirling around in your favorite morning brew.
Before you pour out your cup, though, here’s what you need to know.
What Scientists Have Found in Coffee
Coffee contains high levels of antioxidants and bioactive compounds, such as phenolic acids, which studies suggest may be responsible for its health-boosting effects. However, other lesser-known compounds lurking in coffee aren’t as beneficial, and some may actually be harmful to your health.
While scientists have identified trace amounts of various compounds in coffee, the levels detected in research are generally low and do not pose significant health risks to most people. That said, the choices you make about the type of coffee you buy and how you store, prepare, and drink it can further reduce these trace substances.
Mycotoxins From Mold
Improper storage of coffee can lead to mold growth and the formation of mycotoxins, which, in high amounts, may affect kidney function and increase cancer risk, Julia Kopczyńska, microbiologist and doctoral candidate at the Polish Academy of Sciences, told The Epoch Times.
In one study, researchers found 29 different mycotoxins in 48 coffee and chicory samples they tested.
Overall, most research has shown that coffee contains low levels of mycotoxins, and scientists have found that roasting can further reduce these levels, so the overall risk for most coffee drinkers is low.
However, among potential contaminants, Brian Clark, a nurse anesthetist and founder and CEO of United Medical Education, a platform for educating medical professionals, is most concerned about mold-related toxic compounds in coffee.
He noted that people with compromised immune systems may be more sensitive to environmental toxins, such as mycotoxins, making this the compound category that warrants the most attention for vulnerable populations.
Roasting Byproducts
While roasting coffee can reduce mycotoxins, it can also lead to the formation of acrylamide, a compound that has potentially cancer-causing and nerve-damaging properties and may harm a person’s genes, one research review suggests. Acrylamide forms when processing temperatures rise above 120 degrees Celsius (248 degrees Fahrenheit).
However, most healthy adults can process small amounts of acrylamide without adverse health effects. So, it would be difficult for a person who regularly drinks coffee to exceed laboratory exposure limits and experience any neurologic and carcinogenic issues, said Clark.
How people store and brew their coffee can also impact acrylamide levels. Storing beans or ground coffee for at least a year at an average room temperature, then brewing it longer and at a lower temperature, can further reduce acrylamide levels.
The type of bean also makes a difference, as Arabica beans generate less acrylamide than other types.
Natural Coffee Oils (Diterpenes)
Natural oils in coffee, such as the diterpenes cafestol and kahweol, can raise cholesterol levels, particularly in people who drink unfiltered coffee, Kopczyńska noted.
A September review of 11 studies with more than one million participants found that moderate coffee intake (three to five cups per day) may be associated with higher high-density lipoprotein or HDL (good cholesterol) levels, while excessive intake may be associated with elevated low-density lipoprotein or LDL (bad cholesterol) and total cholesterol. Research suggests that diterpenes may influence lipid metabolism and how the body synthesizes and transports cholesterol.
However, diterpenes also have several health-promoting effects, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties, Kopczyńska said.
“Reducing diterpenes is therefore most [important] for people who need to manage their LDL cholesterol levels,” she noted.
Pesticide Residues
In a September study,scientists analyzed nearly 900 coffee samples sold in Egypt for 126 pesticides and found that 21 percent of the roasted samples contained pesticide residues.
Espresso and traditional Turkish coffee brewing methods reduced pesticide residues, the scientists noted, with espresso methods generally being more effective. Despite the findings, the researchers’ risk assessments revealed that the health risks from pesticide exposure through coffee consumption are low.
The Clean Label Project, a nonprofit organization that tests products for contaminants, tested 57 coffee brands for chemicals, including pesticides and glyphosate, a widely used herbicide classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organization in 2015. Its report found that only two of 57 coffee samples tested had traces of glyphosate.
However, 41 of the samples, including 100 percent of the organic samples, contained aminomethylphosphonic acid, a byproduct of glyphosate that breaks down more slowly and stays in the coffee beans for longer.
Children exposed to this byproduct may have an increased risk of liver and cardiometabolic disorders by the time they reach adulthood, a 2023 study suggests.
Pesticides and herbicides used on coffee plantations may have harmful effects on the endocrine and nervous systems, but residues in coffee are generally within safe limits, Kopczyńska said. However, she added that they can contribute to a person’s overall exposure from other food or environmental sources.
Your Choice of Coffee Matters
Everything from the type of coffee purchased to the package it comes in, and even what’s stirred into it, can change what ends up in a cup of joe.
Skip the Pods
While convenient, pod-type coffee, or K-cups, which come in plastic containers, can leach chemicals like phthalates (synthetic industrial chemicals) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals,” into a person’s coffee.
PFAS are linked to a host of health concerns. For example, people exposed to high levels of PFAS in their drinking water may be at higher risk for several types of cancer, a January study found.
Research published in February found that machine-brewed pod coffee had about 2.5 times more fluorotelomer sulfonates, a type of PFAS, than the same coffee brewed through a paper filter without the pod. When the scientists brewed plastic pods made from polypropylene, perfluorooctanoic acid, a type of PFAS, increased by 39 percent to 623 percent when machine-brewed compared to manual brewing.
Heat, combined with the pressure created during the brewing process, is how PFAS leaches from plastic pods into a person’s cup, the researchers noted.
Rethink Flavored Coffee
While they may be a delicious change from plain java, artificially flavored brews like French vanilla, hazelnut, or caramel can reduce coffee’s health benefits.
These flavorings can decrease beneficial chlorogenic acids—a group of polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties—and increase the levels of harmful compounds like acrylamide, compared to coffee flavored naturally, according to one study.
Reconsider Decaffeinated Coffee
Pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions, or those who are sensitive to caffeine’s effects might choose decaffeinated coffee as an alternative. However, concerns have emerged over the health effects of methylene chloride, an industrial chemical used in the decaffeination process to extract caffeine.
In July, researchers found that decaffeinated coffee may increase the risk of bladder cancer. In the study, the scientists followed more than 121,000 men and women for 36 years and found that drinking decaffeinated coffee was not associated with total cancer risk. However, men who drank the beverage had a significantly higher risk of bladder cancer than those who did not.
Think Twice About Instant Coffee
That cup of ready-to-drink coffee, which is brewed coffee that’s been dehydrated into powder or granules, is convenient on a busy morning. However, drinking instant coffee may increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration in people genetically prone to the disease, a June study found.
While many factors may play a role, the scientists noted that instant coffee’s impact on the macula may be due to inflammation and oxidative stress induced by the harmful chemicals produced during its production. They suggest that people at high risk for age-related macular degeneration should avoid instant coffee.
Be Mindful of What You Add
Although cream and sugar may make a tasty cup of coffee, adding these could undermine coffee’s health benefits.
In one study, researchers found that drinking black coffee lowered the risk of death from all causes and heart disease. However, these health benefits diminished significantly when coffee contained added sugar and cream, as these additions can contribute to a higher calorie and saturated fat intake.
Nondairy coffee creamers might not be the best choice for people who want to replace traditional cream and sugar in their coffee, either. Typically, nondairy creamers contain partially hydrogenated oils, which are high in trans fatty acids. Trans fat can raise LDL cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.
Nondairy creamers can also contain emulsifiers such as carrageenan and mono- and diglycerides, which may alter the gut microbiome, potentially leading to intestinal inflammation and immune system dysfunction.
Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and erythritol may be more problematic. Aspartame has been linked to gut biome disruption and increased cancer risks, and erythritol may increase the risk of blood clots, a March study suggests.
Steps to Optimize Your Coffee
If a person is concerned about what’s in their coffee, Clark suggests purchasing whole beans from suppliers who control drying and storage, and storing them in airtight containers in a cool, dry location to slow the breakdown of the beans and inhibit mold growth.
“Although the acrylamide levels in coffee have not been shown to increase cancer risk, it is best to avoid instant coffee and coffee substitutes, which contain up to 300 percent more acrylamide,” Kopczyńska said. “Darker roasts also contain less acrylamide than lighter ones.”
To reduce diterpene intake, Kopczyńska suggests switching to filtered coffee, which contains roughly 30 times less diterpenes than French press or other unfiltered methods.
She also advises people to buy organic coffee, if possible, to minimize cumulative pesticide exposure.
Though organic coffee is grown without synthetic pesticides or herbicides, which can significantly reduce exposure to these chemicals, even organic beans may have traces of pesticide residues due to environmental contamination.
By carefully choosing the type of coffee and being mindful of storage and brewing practices, a person can significantly reduce the presence of unwanted chemicals in their coffee, long before it reaches their morning cup.
At least 11 Palestinians have died in storm-hit Gaza from cold and collapsing buildings within the last 24 hours. Two children – nine-year-old Hadeel Hamdan and an infant, Taim Khawaja – died from cold in Gaza City on Friday, according to medical sources.
Another child, eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Jazar, died in Khan Younis on Thursday after rainwater leaked into her family’s tent during overnight storms. Five people were killed when a damaged house in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, collapsed under floods and strong winds. Several others were injured.
Two more deaths occurred when a wall collapsed on tents of displaced Palestinians in the al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City. One further death from a crumbling wall was reported in al-Shati refugee camp, north Gaza.
Overall, at least 13 buildings – already partly damaged from Israeli bombing – collapsed due to heavy rain and strong winds, according to the Gaza-based Government Media Office. Some people remain trapped under the rubble, with others wounded.
Meanwhile, over 27,000 tents of displaced families have been destroyed or swept away by floods and strong winds. More than 250,000 displaced people have been affected by rain, floods, and collapsing shelters.
Over 4,300 distress calls have been made across the Gaza Strip since the storm began earlier this week, the Ministry of Interior and National Security said. Despite limited resources, the ministry said search-and-rescue civil defense teams, along with police, are doing their best to help people.
Storm Byron hit Palestine and Israel earlier this week and is expected to continue into Friday. Its impact has been devastating in the Gaza Strip, where nearly 1.5 million people live in tents, while most of the remaining 700,000 reside in partially destroyed buildings.
After two years of relentless bombing that damaged or destroyed around 92 percent of all residential buildings, Israel has blocked the entry of tents and mobile homes into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
Storm Byron hits Gaza as nearly 1.5 million Palestinians shelter in flood-prone camps with little protection. Aid groups say Israel’s restrictions on vital shelter materials have left families exposed. Al Jazeera’s @vpietromarchi explains ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/JhZk11zZye
The move violates the terms of the ceasefire agreement signed in October, which stipulated that Israel must allow 300,000 tents and mobile homes into Gaza.
Ahead of the storm, humanitarian workers and health officials warned of “catastrophic consequences” for displaced people if shelters are not allowed into Gaza.
