Scalding hot tea significantlyincreases the risk of developing esophageal cancer, warn researchers.
Findings in the InternationalJournal of Cancer reinforce earlier research linking the consumption oftea, water, coffee, cocoa, and herbal infusions at temperatures above 140oF(60oC) to cancers of the throat. Water boils at 212oF (100oC).
Drinking two cups(700ml) per day at very high temperatures was associated with a 90% increase inthe likelihood of developing esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Only20% of those diagnosed with esophageal cancer go on to live five years.
The analysis is from a10-year study of 50,000 adults aged 40 to 75 (at baseline). The participantslive in Golestan Province in northeastern Iran, a part of the world where teais consumed well above room temperature. The Golestan Cohort Study identified317 newly diagnosed cases of ESCC during the period 2004-17.
At the onset of the study participants were divided into three groups: those who drank their tea very hot, those who drank their tea hot (below 140oF), and those who drank their tea lukewarm. After 10 years of follow up “very hot” tea drinkers were 2.41 times more likely to develop throat cancers compared to those who prefer hot or lukewarm tea. Those who reported drinking tea within 2 minutes of pouring were 1.51 times more likely to develop ESCC compared to those who allowed the tea to cool at least 6 minutes.
During the testingphase, participants poured two cups of tea, one to drink and the second to measuretemperature at the time they drank the first cup.
“No study has previously examined this association using prospectively and objectively measured tea drinking temperature,” writes lead researcher Dr. Farhad Islami, the strategic director of Cancer Surveillance Research at the American Cancer Society. While population based studies only reveal conditions associated with the hypothesis but "our results substantially strengthen the existing evidence supporting an association between hot beverage drinking and [esophageal cancer risk]," conclude the researchers.
Islami said that "to our knowledge, this is the only large‐scale prospective study in the world in which actual tea drinking temperature has been measured by trained staff at baseline. Three independent measures of hot tea consumption were each associated with higher risk of ESCC, providing strong evidence for an association between hot beverage drinking and ESCC,” he said.
There is no known health benefit todrinking very hot beverages and since people who drink very hot beverages “canincrease the risk of esophageal cancer, it is, therefore, advisable to waituntil hot beverages cool down before drinking,” concludes Islami.
Source: InternationalJournal of Cancer, Medical News Today,Forbes