Consuming hot tea leads to double risk of oesophageal cancer
Experts warn drinking tea at 60C or higher is 'consistently associated' with increased cancer risk
(Web Desk) - A study of 50,000 people showed that taking very hot tea could lead in doubling the oesophageal cancer.
Cancer experts found that people consuming 700ml/day drinks at 60C or high were "consistenly associated" with a 90% risk of the diesease compared to people who drank liquids at a lower temperature.
The study’s lead author, Dr Farhad Islami, advised tea takers in order to to let their beverages cool down before drinking them to reduce the cancer risk.
The research, which was published in the International Journal of Cancer, studied the drinking habits of 50,045 people aged 40 to 75 in northeastern Iran.
Dr Islami, from the American Cancer Society, said: “Many people enjoy drinking tea, coffee, or other hot beverages.
“However, according to our report, drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of oesophageal cancer, and it is therefore advisable to wait until hot beverages cool down before drinking.”
Oesophageal cancer is a type of cancer that affects the gullet (oesophagus), which carries food from the throat to the stomach.
Allowing your tea to cool down or adding milk in it can reduce the risk of cancer.
In 2016, the International Agency for Research on Cancer – the cancer agency of the World Health Organisation – classified drinking very hot beverages above 65C as a probable carcinogen.
The judgement was informed by studies which mostly looked at mate, a type of tea that is traditionally drunk at very hot temperatures, mainly in South America, Asia, and Africa.
They said that the drink was not associated with the cancer at all rather the temperature is the real victim in doing so to all types of tea.
The research team behind the new study, which includes researchers from the University of Cambridge, concluded: “Our results substantially strengthen the existing evidence supporting an association between hot beverage drinking and [oesophageal cancer].”
Georgina Hill, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “This study adds to the evidence that having drinks hotter than 60 degrees may increase the risk of oesophageal cancer.”
