Hot water or warm water: which is better?
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A-Q asks: Two cups of water on the table, one hot, one warm. Which one is better for you? Let's follow one sip, from the mouth all the way down, and find exactly where these two cups part ways. Stop one: the mouth. Warm water feels just right. Freshly boiled water is near a hundred degrees. Your lips flinch on contact.
Stop two: the esophagus, the tube from your throat to your stomach. This is where the difference shows up. Very hot water scalds the lining of the tube, just a little. Once in a while, it heals on its own. But scald it every day, and the lining is stuck in a loop: burn, repair, burn again. The World Health Organization's cancer research agency reached a verdict in 2016: drinks above sixty-five degrees probably cause cancer, mainly cancer of the esophagus.
It blamed the temperature, not tea, not coffee. The evidence isn't rock-solid yet, but studies from several countries point the same way. A study in China followed over 450,000 people for more than nine years. People who drank scalding tea daily and drank alcohol every day had an esophageal cancer risk five times that of people who rarely drank tea and drank little. Stop three: the stomach. By now, hot or warm, the water soon ends up near body temperature.
Stop four: it becomes part of you. Hot, warm or cool, it's all just water. As doctors put it: there's no solid evidence any temperature hydrates you better. So does hot water help with a cold? A small British study gave thirty people with colds the same drink. Served hot rather than at room temperature, it eased more of the sore throat, chills and tiredness. But the authors say part of that is likely comfort in the mind. It makes you feel better. It doesn't cure the cold.
So here's the answer: hot or warm, both are fine. The difference is in your esophagus, not your stomach. What to avoid are those scalding first sips. A study in Iran found that people who drank tea within two minutes of pouring had about fifty percent more risk than those who waited a few minutes. Let it sit a while. If it doesn't burn your mouth, you're good. A-Q, how long does the boiled water at your place sit before you drink it?
Follow one sip
Two cups, one sip each. Where exactly do they part ways?
A sip of water makes four stops: your mouth, the tube below your throat, your stomach, and finally the rest of your body. Let’s go stop by stop.
Stop one: the mouth
Warm water feels just right. Freshly boiled water is close to 100°C, and your lips flinch the moment they touch it.
Cold and warm water even taste different: why cold and warm water don’t taste the same
Stop two: the tube below your throat
This tube is the esophagus. It runs from your throat to your stomach, and this is where the difference shows up.
Very hot water scalds the lining of the tube, just a little. Once in a while, it heals on its own. Scald it every day, though, and the lining gets stuck in a loop: burn, repair, burn again.
Drinks above 65°C probably cause cancer, mainly of the esophagus.
That was the verdict of the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency in 2016. It blamed the temperature, not tea and not coffee. The evidence isn’t rock-solid yet, but studies from China, Iran, Turkey and South America point the same way.
A study in China followed over 450,000 people for more than 9 years. People who drank scalding tea every day and also drank alcohol daily had 5 times the esophageal cancer risk of people who rarely drank tea and drank little alcohol.
Stops three and four: in the stomach, they’re the same
As doctors put it, there’s no solid evidence that any temperature hydrates you better. What matters more is drinking enough of the right thing.
Does hot water help with a cold?
In a small British study, 30 people with colds had the same drink. Served hot instead of at room temperature, it eased more of their sore throat, chills and tiredness.
But the authors say part of that is likely comfort in the mind. It makes you feel better. It doesn’t cure the cold.
Pour it, then let it sit
A study in Iran found that people who drank tea within 2 minutes of pouring had about 50% higher risk than people who waited a few minutes.
Hot or warm, both are fine. Just skip the scalding first sips.
Let it sit for a bit. If it doesn’t burn your mouth, you’re good.
Quick check
Where does the real difference between hot and warm water show up?
In the stomach both hydrate the same; the difference is the tube, where daily scalding keeps it in burn-and-repair.
