There’s nothing quite like the first cup of tea or coffee in the morning. That hit of soothing heat, the slow caffeine release and the routine that tells your brain that the day has started.
Then, the day is punctuated with these hot drinks, marking breaks and, if you’re anything like me, providing the perfect accompaniments to soup at lunchtime. Warm on warm, yes please.
Now, researchers in the US have found that drinking tea or coffee on a daily basis could actually help to prevent mouth cancer.
How tea and coffee could prevent mouth cancer
In a paper published in Cancer, researchers revealed that more than four cups of caffeinated coffee each day could decrease your odds of developing cancer of the head or neck by as much as 17 percent.
Additionally, the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium has found that popular beverages such as tea and coffee contain powerful anticancer and anti-inflammatory substances that may potentially shield drinkers from some of the effects of carcinogens.
University of Utah epidemiologist Yuan-Chin Amy Lee says: “While there has been prior research on coffee and tea consumption and reduced risk of cancer, this study highlighted their varying effects with different sub-sites of head and neck cancer, including the observation that even decaffeinated coffee had some positive impact.
“Coffee and tea habits are fairly complex, and these findings support the need for more data and further studies around the impact that coffee and tea can have on reducing cancer risk.”
How much caffeine should we have per day?
Before you go swigging as many hot cups of joe as possible, the NHS does advise limiting your intake of caffeine as much as possible, saying: “Drink caffeine in moderation – some people are more sensitive to caffeine than others, depending on how much they drink and how often. Check the label for drinks that are high in caffeine.”
Brb, I’m off to put the kettle on.