The esophagus is the passage that connects the throat to the stomach, and about 500,000 people die from this cancer each year worldwide. A recent article in the British Medical Journal said that drinking hot tea can significantly increase the risk of esophageal cancer. Researchers measured the temperature of tea consumed daily by about 50,000 local Iranians and found that the locals generally prefer hot tea, and the temperature of this hot water was at least 70 degrees Celsius. Next, 300 esophageal cancer patients and 571 healthy people were selected to study the tea drinking habits of the locals. The results showed that compared with people who often drank tea at 65℃, those who liked to drink tea from 65℃ to 69℃ were twice as likely to suffer from esophageal cancer; those who often drank tea above 70℃ were 8 times more likely to suffer from esophageal cancer. So why can drinking water also trigger esophageal cancer? In fact, long-term consumption of overheated tea or hot soup will cause chronic stimulation of esophageal mucosa, resulting in abnormal proliferation of esophageal squamous epithelial cells, which is a precancerous symptom. If no attention is paid to correct this, cancer will be induced in the long run. However, people who like to drink hot tea need not panic because of the findings, experts pointed out that as long as the tea brewed with boiling water is left for 5 minutes before drinking, the risk of esophageal cancer can be greatly reduced.