Beware of Too Much Hot Tea

Cancer of the esophagus is a particularly unpleasant condition, with a relatively high mortality rate. Squamous cell cancer, one of the two main types, usually occurs in the upper third of the organ. It’s the most common type in countries outside the USA, and it’s increasing in frequency. Golestan province in Iran has a particularly high incidence ofsquamous cell espohageal cancer, and an international team of physicians has investigated the possible reason for this ‘hot spot’. Their findings are published in the British Medical Journal.

The investigators recruited 300 patients who had been diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell cancer living in Golestan, along with 571 matched neighborhood control subjects. Their tea-drinking habits were recorded: rough daily volume and likely temperature at which drunk – lukewarm/warm, hot, or very hot.

Nearly all participants drank black tea regularly, mostly over one liter daily. Drinking hot tea (65 - 69 degree C) was associatedwith a doubling of the risk of esophageal cancer compared to those drinking lukewarm/warm tea (65 degree C or less). And drinking very hot tea (70 degree C or more) was linked to a 5-fold higher risk of cancer. Put another way, drinking tea within 2 minutes of pouring it was linked with a 5-fold increased risk of esophageal cancer, compared with drinking it after 4 minutes. The daily volume had no influence on the risk of cancer.

Tea has several good health qualities (especially if you take it without sugar or milk). So just make sure you let it cool adequately before you drink it.