Tea or coffee? No need to pick sides! Because both tea and coffee drinkers seem to be winners! Studies suggest that drinking coffee and tea may reduce the chances of developing head and neck cancer. So, whether you’re a tea lover or a coffee person, you’re on the winning team!
A recent analysis has revealed lower risks of developing head and neck cancer, along with cancers of the mouth and throat in people consuming either tea or coffee or both. The researchers analysed data from numerous studies, which suggested that coffee and tea potentially have a protective effect.
Head and neck cancers are the seventh most common type of cancer worldwide, and it is on the rise in low and middle-income countries. Tobacco use, alcohol abuse, and oncogenic viruses, including human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus, can increase the risk of head and neck cancers.
Though there have been numerous studies that looked at the potential protective effects of coffee and tea in lowering the risk of head and neck cancers, the results were inconsistent.
However, some researchers have analyzed many studies and concluded that coffee and tea may have many protective effects against several types of cancers. The article ‘Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of head and neck cancer: An updated pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium’ published by
Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society lists the findings.
The group of researchers from across the globe examined data from 14 studies by different scientists associated with the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium. The participants in the study were also asked to fill out questionnaires about their prior consumption of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea in cups per day/week/month/year.
They analyzed data from 9,548 head and neck cancer patients and 15,783 controls without cancer. They found that compared to non-coffee drinkers, people who drank more than 4 cups of caffeinated coffee daily had reduced risk of head and neck cancer by 17%, oral cancer by 30%, and throat cancer by 22%. Additionally, drinking 3–4 cups of caffeinated coffee was linked with a 41% lower risk of having cancer at the bottom of the throat.
“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,” senior author Yuan-Chin Amy Lee, PhD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah School of Medicine said in a release.
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Similarly consuming decaffeinated coffee showed lower risks of developing oral cavity cancer. Drinking tea lowers 29% of hypopharyngeal cancer. On the other hand, drinking 1 cup or less of tea daily was linked with a 9% lower risk of head and neck cancer overall and a 27% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer. Interestingly, drinking more than 1 cup is linked with a 38% higher chance of laryngeal cancer.
(Pic courtesy: iStock)
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
