The largest study ever conducted on the relationship between hot drinks and the risk of disease found that drinking very hot tea and coffee triples the risk of developing esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The research was published in the International Journal of Cancer and analyzed the association between drink temperature and the incidence of different types of cancer in this region of the body.
The results indicate that both the temperature of the drink and the amount of very hot beverages consumed increase the chances of developing the disease. However, the study also found that hot drinks do not increase the risk of adenocarcinoma, which is the other type of esophageal cancer.
Based on these findings, researchers recommend that people let their cups of tea and coffee cool down until they reach a comfortable drinking temperature as a way to reduce the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
