Steaming Hot Tea Linked to Cancer

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HTML clipboard Steaming Hot Tea Linked to Cancer

Drinking steaming hot tea has been linked with an increased risk of

esophageal (food tube) cancer. A study found that drinking black tea

at temperatures of 70 degrees Celsius or higher, increased the risk.

This could explain the increased esophageal cancer risk in some

non-Western populations. Adding milk, as most tea drinkers in Western

countries do, cools the drink enough to eliminate the risk.

Compared with drinking warm or lukewarm tea, drinking hot tea (65 to 69

degrees Celsius) was associated with twice the risk of esophageal

cancer, and drinking very hot tea (70 degrees Celsius or more) was

associated with an eight-fold increased risk.

Esophagus cancers kill more than 500,000 people worldwide each year.

Sources:

BBC News March 27, 2009

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7965380.stm>