If you regularly drink your tea or coffee “very hot,” you may be at three times higher risk of developing a type of esophageal cancer, according to a new study. The team found that drinking hot beverages at very high temperatures may increase the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which forms in the mucosal lining of the food pipe.Very Hot Drinks Linked To Higher Cancer RiskStudies in Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East have consistently shown that drinking tea or mate (a herbal drink) at very high temperatures (around 70°C) increases esophageal cancer risk. However, evidence has been limited for drink temperatures typically consumed in Western populations. To explore this, a team at Oxford analyzed data from around 980,000 UK adults and tracked their health records for more than 10 years to see whether they developed esophageal SCC. Also read: Why You Suddenly Can’t Tolerate Foods You Once Ate EasilyCompared with people who reported drinking their beverages “warm,” those who preferred their drinks “hot” had nearly twice the risk of esophageal SCC, while those who drank them “very hot” had a three times higher risk. The findings “add to existing evidence that drinking very hot drinks could increase the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma,” said Dr Keren Papier, lead researcher and senior nutritional epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health. It’s The Temperature, Not Tea Or Coffee But does the beverage matter? No, the study did not find that consuming tea and coffee increased the risk of esophageal SCC. Instead, the risk was associated with the temperature of any hot beverage consumed. “Our findings suggest that reducing drink temperature in populations where tea and coffee are frequently consumed could offer an important means of SCC prevention,” the researchers said. How Could Very Hot Drinks Raise Cancer Risk? It is unclear how higher drink temperatures may affect esophageal cancer risk. However, existing evidence suggests that very hot drinks may damage the lining of the esophagus, which, over time, can increase the chance of cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also classifies drinking very hot beverages above 65°C as “probably carcinogenic” to people. What Is Esophageal Cancer? Read More: Attention Ladies: More Than 5 Cups Of Coffee Linked To Lower Bone Density; Tea May HelpThe esophagus is a long, hollow tube that helps move swallowed food from the back of the throat to the stomach for digestion. Esophageal cancer is a malignant tumor in the food pipe and primarily affects people over the age of 55. Lifestyle factors that may predispose a person to esophageal cancer include tobacco use, alcohol consumption, chronic acid reflux, obesity, and poor diet choices. In the UK, there is a 1% lifetime risk of being diagnosed with esophageal SCC. How Can You Reduce Your Risk? While the evidence linking hot drinks to cancer risk is still evolving, there are proven ways to reduce the risk of esophageal SCC. “The most important ways to reduce the risk of this cancer type are not smoking and cutting down on alcohol,” said Fiona Osgun, head of health information at Cancer Research UK. Letting your tea or coffee to cool down a little before taking a sip, may be a good idea.