Alice Park recently referenced in her online article (Read the Article) that the World Health Organization (WHO) says that hot drinks like coffee and tea can increase your risk of cancer. Based on available evidence from roughly 1,000 studies, there was a connection between very hot beverages (149°F, which is cooler than most “take out” coffee) and a higher risk of esophageal cancer. From my viewpoint as holistic physician, below is my response to reading this article and the underlying mechanisms that I think provide a link between consuming hot beverages and cancer risk. 

Cooking the Good Stuff Out 

There have been thousands of studies and articles published on the benefits of coffee and tea and how each of these beverages is filled with antioxidants. Antioxidants are chemicals found in plants and other foods. Antioxidants help to protect your body from oxidative stress (aka free radicals) which can literally “burn” your cells and tissues leading to damage and disease. What you need to understand is that many of the components of the foods and drinks that you consume are fragile and easily damaged and altered by extremes of temperatures. When you heat a food or beverage and especially overheat it, you destroy many of these vital nutrients. For example, when comparing varieties of tea, Green tea is raw tea and Black tea is tea that has been cooked. Green tea is often known to be “healthier” for you because it’s full of phytonutrients and antioxidants that weren’t cooked out of black tea. Additionally, overcooked foods often have carcinogenic (cancer causing) properties.  Consequently, consuming cooked (oxidized) coffee or tea can increase your risk for cancer. 

Structured Water is Living Water

Water is one of the most important components of your body, in fact, up to 70% of your body is water and it is essential to almost every bodily function that occurs inside of you. 
Natural water from a spring is “structured” and has energetic properties. However, distilled or purified or even boiled water is unstructured and lifeless. Your body cannot utilize unstructured water; therefore, you have to use your own metabolic energy to restore structure of heated (dead) water. Essentially, you are cannibalizing your body’s own metabolic energy whenever you ingest “dead” water. This vital energy could have been be used to destroy cancer cells, neutralize free radicals, or detoxify metabolic waste products. This wasteful process could increase your risk of cancer. 

Hot Temperatures Burn! 

The Times article focuses on the higher risk of cancer as it relates to high temperatures scalding the delicate tissues of your esophagus, which in turn may trigger more rapid turnover of cells, possibly leading to malignant growth, i.e. cancer. Imagine you’re at a casino rolling dice. The more times you roll; the greater chance you get snake eyes. The more times you damage your tissues, the greater your chances that you could end up with a defect or mutation in the repair process. Consequently, repeated tissue damage from exposure to high temperatures can increase your risk for cancer.  

Effects of Caffeine

Caffeine itself is a drug and it has diuretic properties. In fact, ingesting caffeine causes your body to excrete magnesium and calcium, which are minerals shown to have anti-cancerous properties. Additionally, heavy caffeine consumption has been known to raise estrogen and high levels of estrogen have been linked to increased chances of cancer as well. Your liver metabolizes caffeine by a process known as hepatic detoxification. Your liver has many detoxification pathways; however, caffeine and estrogen share a common pathway. Hence, excess caffeine consumption can raise your estrogen levels and increase your risk of cancer through this mechanism. 

Listen to your Mom

Remember as a child your mom used to say “Don’t drink coffee; it’ll stunt your growth”? I’m a big proponent of doing what your momma tells you. While most people look to coffee as a morning ritual or even a habit, I encourage you to drink hot coffee and tea in moderation. 

Read more at MDWellnessMD.com or contact Dr. Rothman by calling 732-268-7663