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Daily Edition • Wednesday, Sept 16

Study Says Hot Drinks Could Triple Your Cancer Risk

A person holds a steaming coffee cup, wearing a cozy sweater, with soft lighting enhancing the warm atmosphere.

Kateryna Hliznitsova/Unsplash

Bad News for Cozy Season: A new study from the UK may have you thinking twice about drinking all those pumpkin spice lattes this fall. Researchers identified a clear link between drink temperature and cancer risk, but the findings are specific enough that you can likely hang onto your favorite drink if you stay under a certain threshold.

The Study: Researchers tracked nearly 980,000 UK adults for more than 14 years. Participants reported how hot they liked their tea and coffee and how many cups they drank daily. People who preferred their drinks very hot, in comparison to those who preferred them warm, exhibited about triple the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the most common form of esophageal cancer globally. Six or more hot drinks a day was associated with a 71% higher risk of the disease.

The Takeaway: Earlier research flagged drinks above about 150°F as probably carcinogenic, which is hotter than most morning coffee. Letting your drink sit a few minutes (or adding a little cold milk or an ice cube) can cool it down without changing your routine too much.

Keep in Mind: Esophageal cancer is still quite rare, accounting for about 1% of all cancer cases in the U.S., and smoking and alcohol remain bigger risk factors for it. Also, a key limitation of the study is that drink temperature is inherently subjective.

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The At-Home Kombucha Habit That Costs Just $1.42 A Glass

A hand pours a drink into a glass from a dispenser inside a refrigerator filled with fruits and vegetables.

Courtesy: Bruusta

If you are grabbing bottled kombucha from the fridge case, there is a good chance it has been sitting there for weeks and you are mostly paying for packaging and shipping. That is one reason a “healthy” drink can quietly become an expensive habit.

A simpler option is to treat kombucha like a staple, the way you might treat coffee or tea, and keep it flowing at home instead of buying it one bottle at a time.

Bruusta’s at‑home system turns a pre‑measured bruu pack and water into 21 servings in six days, with less than 3 grams of sugar per glass and about $1.42 per pour. It is a short, set‑and‑forget ritual that gives you fresh, naturally fermented kombucha on tap without babysitting a SCOBY or cluttering your counter with jars. You’re adding one small habit that actually sticks, and starting it at 40% off.

See How It Works

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Mindfulness

A Flow State Can Boost Focus & Ease Stress. Here’s How to Find Yours

A person in a yellow shirt paints a mountain landscape on a large canvas outdoors, surrounded by colorful plants and trees.

All Healthy Design Studio

In the Zone: If you’ve ever lost yourself in a project — even lost track of time while doing it— you know how fulfilling a flow state can feel. Writers, artists, and musicians talk about creating in a flow state, but, according to Hungarian-American psychologist (who first introduced the idea) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, anyone can enter a flow state. He researched intrinsic motivation by studying how artists immerse themselves in a painting for weeks, months, or longer, later shifting his focus to how athletes, chess players, surgeons, and dancers also get into flow states. Reaching a flow state creates the optimal conditions for creation and productivity. The key is that your actions and your awareness unite, resulting in singular focus and concentration, allowing you to let go of fear and self-doubt.

How to Do It: You’re more likely to lose yourself in something you enjoy doing, and it should be something that’s just challenging enough to keep it interesting. Start the work with a specific goal to keep you motivated, and focus on just one thing — multitasking is the opposite of flow. And remember to remove or shut off distractions (like your phone).

The Benefits: Beyond productivity, studies have found that flow can quiet mental noise, relax the body, reduce stress, and disrupt the loop of rumination.

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SPOTLIGHT

The Simple Power of Walking

A man with glasses and a beard smiles softly while wearing a dark sweater against a neutral background.

CRAIG MOD
Essayist, Author, Photographer

Courtesy: Craig Mod

The belief that long walks have some real benefits for the mind is not new. In 1888, Friedrich Nietzsche urged his readers to “Sit as little as possible; do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement in which the muscles do not also revel…Sitting still…is the real sin against the Holy Ghost.” But the German philosopher is hardly the only one to touch on this idea. Every culture and era has its own advocate for the simple but powerful practice of walking.

Ours may just be Craig Mod, an essayist, photographer, and author of the book Things Become Other Things. Mod was born in a working-class town in Connecticut and moved to Japan around 2000, shortly after his close friend was murdered. Since then, he’s developed a practice of walking 30-40 kilometers a day for weeks at a time.

For Mod, walking isn’t exercise; it’s a tool for attention, reflection, and transformation. His work argues that in an era of fractured focus and digital overload, long, unmediated walks are a radical act — one that can restore our sense of presence, deepen our connection to place, and help us carry life’s hardest weights with a little more grace.

FOLLOW | LISTEN | READ

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Quick Picks

Twofer — These 5 high-protein, high-fiber foods will keep you fuller longer.

Morning Boost — 1 cup of this daily drink quietly flooded bodies with stem cells and improved blood vessel function.*

Sleepy Head — Doctors share advice on how to overcome persistent daytime tiredness.

It’s Cold Season — Does zinc or vitamin C have better immune-boosting powers?

Meet the “Stinkfluencers” — Why some people are pheromone-maxxing.

^*Indicates a brand partnership

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What We're Cooking

Easy Sweet Kale Salad

A colorful salad with shredded cabbage, apples, and chicken drizzled with a dark sauce, served in a blue bowl.

Courtesy: Better Plates

Serves: 4 | Cook Time: 38 minutes

A store-bought sweet kale salad kit gets a major upgrade with juicy chicken, crispy bacon, sweet apples, sharp bleu cheese, and red onion. The kit does most of the work for you, including the dressing, so this hearty salad comes together with minimal chopping and fuss. A drizzle of balsamic glaze adds another layer of tangy-sweet flavor, while the chicken makes it substantial enough for lunch. With 27 grams of protein per serving, it’s an easy way to turn a salad kit into a full meal.

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This, Not That

Put Snacks on a Plate

Whole grain toast with almond butter, served with a bowl of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries on a plate.

THIS

A close-up view of a partially open bag filled with crisp, orange-colored potato chips.

NOT THAT

Meg Aghamyan/Unsplash, Gabriel Dalton/Unsplash

This: Portion the snack before you eat
Not That: Going hand-to-bag until the evidence is gone

Snacks are easier to enjoy when they have a beginning and an end. Put chips, crackers, nuts, candy, or popcorn in a bowl before you sit down. You can always get more, but at least the snack stops operating like a bottomless portal.

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How Long Has Your “Fresh” Kombucha Actually Been Sitting There?

Here is something you may not know about that bottle of kombucha you toss into your cart. By the time you drink it, it has often spent weeks in transit and on shelves, which can affect both the price you pay and the fizz in your glass.

Bruusta puts fresh, naturally fermented kombucha on tap in your own fridge for about $1.42 a glass, and right now starter bundles are 40% off with auto-delivery.

Learn More

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HEALTHY HABIT

Make Your Healthy Habit Repeatable

The habit you can repeat is usually better than the one that looks impressive once. Make it smaller: 10 minutes of walking, one vegetable, one glass of water, one stretch, one packed snack. Consistency is easier when the habit does not require a dramatic entrance.

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Final Thought

A sandy beach extends into turquoise waters, with people walking along the shore under a clear sky.

You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.”

– Rabindranath Tagore, Wit and Wisdom of Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore

Juan Domenech/Unsplash