Eat it while it's hot? Too hot for the esophagus to handle!
We're told to eat our food hot, but some people find it satisfying to let scalding food travel down their esophagus. Especially in the dead of winter, a bowl of piping hot hot pot or mala tang warms you up from the inside, and it feels incredibly comfortable. However, consistently eating very hot food not only causes mouth ulcers, toothaches, and indigestion but also increases the risk of esophageal cancer.
People who aren't used to eating hot food will find their tongue and throat are already staging a protest after just a few bites: We can't handle this high-temperature work environment! But those who are accustomed to it can tolerate even hotter temperatures, and they're afraid it's not hot enough enough! In their words, if you don't feel that burn, how do you know you're eating a proper meal?
Can you handle it? You can't! The lining of our mouth and esophagus is covered with soft mucous membranes. Under normal conditions, the temperature of the mouth and esophagus is around 36.5°C to 37.2°C. Therefore, a suitable eating temperature is about 10°C to 40°C, and the maximum tolerable temperature is only 50°C to 60°C. When exposed to food around 75°C, the delicate mucous membranes can suffer mild burns. Fortunately, these areas have very rich blood circulation, so the damaged tissue is shed, regenerated, and repaired promptly. Occasional minor injuries can heal quickly.
But for those who regularly eat hot food, the situation is not so good! Under constant thermal stimulation, the oral and esophageal mucous membranes repeatedly go through this repair process, causing them to thicken continuously. The thickened mucosa becomes less sensitive to heat, but people who love hot food keep chasing that intense sensation of heat, creating a vicious cycle where they become less sensitive to heat and, in turn, eat even hotter food. Furthermore, the nerve reflexes of the esophageal mucosa are naturally quite blunt, so they often don't notice the damage. This sends a false message to the brain: "We're fine, bring on the heat!"
When the mucosa gets angry, the consequences are serious. Without enough attention from the host, the poor mucosa endures day after day of torment. In this vicious cycle, as the mucosa suffers increasingly severe burns, it can lead to problems like mouth ulcers, esophageal ulcers, and esophagitis.
In addition to the esophagus, the gums also have a lot to complain about: food that is too hot can burn the gums. But before they can heal, another batch of hot food enters. Over time, the gums will protest with ulcers. Long-term consumption of very hot food can also cause dentin sensitivity, leading to allergic toothaches.
Everyone has had the experience of accidentally eating something too hot. When you don't want to spit it out, you usually quickly swish it around in your mouth and swallow it whole. But for those who love hot food, this is their every meal. This causes food to enter the stomach before it has been sufficiently chewed and mixed with saliva, increasing the burden on the stomach and affecting digestion and absorption. These hot foods also provide a perfect environment for ulcers and inflammation to take up residence in the esophagus.
But the esophagus doesn't want to stay in a perpetually damaged state, so it constantly tries to regenerate and repair. In this repeated cycle of injury, regeneration, and repair, some "bad elements" begin to appear among the regenerating cells—these are "atypical" cells with abnormal shapes and functions. When these abnormal cells multiply, malignant changes occur. Tumors will appear on the surface of the esophageal mucosal epithelium. As the cancerous tissue grows, it takes up more and more space in the esophagus. Many patients only seek medical attention when they experience difficulty swallowing or a feeling of something being stuck, at which point a diagnosis reveals: esophageal tumor. Time for surgery!