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Thursday 27 June 2019

Drinking very hot tea can double risk of oesophageal cancer, scientists say

Drinking very hot tea could almost double the risk of oesophageal cancer, according to a study of 50,000 people.

Cancer experts found that drinking 700ml per day of tea at 60C or higher was “consistently associated” with a 90 per cent higher risk of the disease, compared with people who drank liquids at lower temperatures.
The study’s lead author, Dr Farhad Islami, advised tea drinkers 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.
If you let your tea cool down before drinking it, or add cold milk, you are unlikely to be increasing 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.

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