Hot drinks may raise the risk of oesophageal cancer
Hot coffee could cause oesophageal cancer
A study published on September 8th in the International Journal of Cancer adds to mounting evidence that very hot beverages of any kind increase the risk of oesophageal cancer, the disease of the tube linking throat to stomach. The takeaway is simple: let your drink cool before you sip.
A steaming hot drink may feel invigorating or comforting. But research suggests that it is best to let it cool off before you take a sip.
- cogman10
> How hot is too hot? At the time IARC reviewed the scientific evidence, the available data suggested that the cancer risk goes up at drinks temperatures above 65°C. The new British study did not record drinks’ temperatures. Rather, it was up to participants to judge what drink temperature was warm, hot or very hot. Other investigations have found that the typical temperature of hot drinks in Britain and America is around 60°C. The study participants who said they drank their brew “warm” were, therefore, probably sipping it cooler than that. The takeaway message is, though, that the less hot your drink is, the better, says Gill Reeves from Oxford University, one of the study’s authors.
65C translates to ~150F.
- mxfh
The study is called Hot Drinks and Oesophageal Cancer, so that's all you need to know about this kind of headline.
- VyseofArcadia
I thought this was well known.
Anecdata, but my wife's grandmother famously liked her coffee pretty much scalding, and we did indeed lose her to esophageal cancer.