Too hot beverages: dangers of drinking them!

Everyone likes their coffee or tea hot. But drinking too hot beverages is not healthy! Know the reasons behind this. What can these hot drinks cause to health?

Too hot beverages

Morning time is time for our hot cup of coffee or tea. We have it in the late afternoon too. And most people prefer to have their milk hot too. Hot chocolate drinks are a favorite especially during the cold winter months.

But many people want to have their drinks very hot. They reheat it to a high temperature and take it immediately. They enjoy drinks at that high temperature.

But drinking too hot beverages might not be good for health. It can cause a number of health issues including cancer. These are detailed below.

People suffering from gastric and duodenal ulcers should be particularly careful and avoid piping hot drinks. Because these drinks can lead to worsening of the ulcers. They can cause thermal injury of the stomach lining and mucosa and cause more ulcers.

How much hot is too hot? Well. Any drink with a temperature of above 60 degrees Celsius is too hot. Infrequent or lesser amounts of intake of too hot drinks is okay. But frequent or too much quantity of them is bad.

Hot drinks and cancer

There has been research that found that drinking extremely hot drinks can lead to thermal injury to the oral, esophageal and gastric mucosal cells. They disrupt the cells and there is local inflammation. Chronic thermal insult can cause a chaotic inflammation at these sites and cancer formation.

There was a study in 2019 that the International Journal of Cancer published. It showed that drinking of piping hot liquids can lead to esophageal cancer. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, cancer of the esophagus is the eighth most common cancer in humans. It is usually fatal with a poor prognosis. The annual mortality due to it is 400000 people globally. Hot drinks, acid reflux, smoking and alcohol are high risk factors for it.

Other problems with hot drinks

Taste buds are present on the tongue and mouth area. Hot liquids can cause thermal damage of these taste buds. Scalding them reduces their sensitivity to pick up taste sensation (one of the special senses). And chronic damage might lead to a permanent inability to detect taste of foods. This might affect our nutrition.

Moreover, these hot drinks can also cause burns of lips, buccal areas and pharynx and throat. These areas might heal with discoloration. You might be left with dark and discolored lips and mouth.