Very Hot Tea and Coffee Linked to Higher Esophageal Cancer Risk

Regularly drinking tea or coffee at very hot temperatures may raise the risk of esophageal cancer, with the heat of the drink appearing to matter.

Medicine

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A large UK study suggests that the temperature of tea and coffee may matter more for esophageal cancer risk than the drinks themselves. Researchers analyzed data from 977,282 adults in two long-running UK health studies and recorded 2,348 cases of esophageal cancer during follow-up. People who reported drinking beverages at very hot temperatures had a substantially higher rate of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma than those who preferred warmer drinks. The study also found that people drinking six or more hot beverages a day had a higher rate of this cancer type after accounting for drink temperature. The findings are observational, so they show an association rather than proving that hot drinks directly cause cancer. The researchers focused on temperature and frequency, not on coffee or tea as inherently dangerous beverages. The broader evidence has suggested for years that repeated exposure to very hot drinks can irritate and injure the lining of the esophagus. The practical point is about avoiding routinely scalding temperatures rather than giving up tea or coffee altogether. Letting a freshly made drink cool before drinking it reduces the amount of heat exposure, while the exact temperature that feels comfortable varies from person to person. The new UK data add evidence from a very large population to a question that has already been studied in other regions.

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