Drinking steaming hot tea has been linked with an increased risk of oesophageal cancer, Iranian scientists have found. The oesophagus is the muscular tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach.
The British Medical Journal study found that drinking tea at temperatures of 70C or higher increased the risk. Experts said the finding could explain the increased oesophageal cancer risk in some non-Western populations.
Oesophagus cancers kill more than 500,000 people worldwide each year and oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common type.
The speed with which people drank their tea was also important. Drinking a cup of tea in under two minutes straight after it was poured was associated with a five-fold higher risk of cancer compared with drinking tea four or more minutes after being poured.
Experts advise to wait a few minutes for the teat to cool from “scalding” to “tolerable” before drinking.
Source: BBC News, 27 March 2009
Chapter: Cancer :: 27 April 2009
