hot drinks increase the risk of cancer

In 2018, according to an overview of coffee consumption in France, produced by the IFOP, 83% of French people consume coffee. At work, at home, in a chain of coffee shops, coffee consumption has become a real habit. The same goes for tea, which is also increasingly attractive.

However, according to researchers from the University of Cambridge (England) and the Karolinska Institute (Sweden): drinking too hot drinks could triple the risk of throat cancer and esophageal cancer.

According to Public Health France, in 2018, 2,753 men and 407 women suffered from throat cancer and 3,725 people died of a esophageal cancer.

Throat cancer: tea and coffee are not at fault

For this study, the researchers started from the premise that “coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, with approximately 165 million 60 kg bags consumed per year. The potential impact of coffee consumption on public health is therefore substantial and health effects have already been suggested: cardiovascular illnessestype 2 diabetes, liver disease etc. »

They then studied data from 580,000 volunteers in the UK and Finland. Participants were asked if they drank their coffee or tea: hot, very hot, or very very hot. Result: people who prefer their coffee hot would have 2.7 times more risk of cancer of the throat or esophagus than non-drinkers, while those who prefer it “very hot” would present a risk 5.5 times higher and “very very hot” 4.1 times higher.

The risk of cancer is actually related to the physical damage to the body due to the consumption of hot liquid. Rest assured, coffee or tea has no effect carcinogenic. It is the heat of drinks that damages the throat and increases the risk of formation of cancer cells.

Scientists do not give the number of cups of hot drinks consumed from which there is a health risk.