Very hot drinks may damage the food pipe and increase cancer risk — SkimNews
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- Oxford University researchers found that drinking beverages at 65°C or above carried roughly three times the oesophageal cancer risk compared to "warm" drinkers, in a study of 977,282 middle-aged men and women published in the International Journal of Cancer.
- Lead researcher Dr Keren Papier said consuming six or more very hot drinks per day also raised the risk, and cited prior South American research linking the herbal drink mate to similar outcomes.
- Freshly boiled tea poured into a cup lands at around 90-95°C, and adding milk may not bring it down to a safe temperature, the researchers noted.
- Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, advised waiting until drinks are comfortable to consume rather than drinking them while still very hot.
- A separate tasting study of 118 young adults found most only deemed drinks too hot at 70°C or above, while coffee cup manufacturer MTPak Coffee pegs the ideal hot-drink temperature at 49-60°C.
- The researchers estimate one or two in every 10 oesophageal cancers could be avoided if no one drank very hot beverages, though squamous cell oesophageal cancer carries just a 1% lifetime UK risk.
Why it matters: For middle-aged tea and coffee drinkers, the practical change is small but behavioral: only one or two in 10 oesophageal cancers could be averted by giving up very hot drinks, since the disease carries just a 1% lifetime UK risk. Letting a brew cool a few minutes beats cutting it out entirely.
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