HAVING a brew, a cup of zen or a cuppa, whatever you call it, there’s nothing us Brits love more than drinking a nice cup of tea.
But experts have now warned that the way you take your brew could increase your risk of a little-known cancer.
Medics have now looked at an association between hot tea drinking and the risk of oesophageal cancer.
Oesophageal cancer is a cancer that’s found anywhere in the oesophagus, sometimes called the gullet or food pipe.
Most people are over the age of 60 when they are diagnosed and in the UK around 9,300 people are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer each year.
Data from Cancer Research states that it’s the 14th most common cancer in adults.
One study, published in 2019 found that people who drink hot tea were at risk of ‘thermal injury’.
The researchers found that people with a ‘lower education or wealth score’ drank tea at hotter temperatures and those who drank large amounts of tea would drink it at 65C or above.
Their analysis found that people were more at risk of oesophageal cancer if there was less time between pouring the tea and drinking the tea.
However, it’s important to note that this was a limited study and didn’t look at all the factors as to why people are at risk of oesophageal cancer.
These risk include if people are smokers and their eating habits – which can all have an impact on oesophageal cancer.
The study also looked specifically at black tea – with the majority of people in the UK using milk to cool their tea.
Another study, published in 2018 also found that drinking ‘piping hot tea’ would increase your risk of cancer by five times.
It found those who like their drinks piping were five times more likely to get oesophageal cancer if they also enjoyed alcohol and smoked.
In comparison, boozers and smokers risk was just 2.5 times higher if they stuck to cooler drinks.
Experts believe scorching teas and coffee damage the lining of the throat, making it more vulnerable to cancer-causing agents.
Lead researcher Dr Jun Lv, from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, said: “These findings suggest for oesophageal cancer prevention, it is important to abstain from high-temperature tea if you are an alcohol consumer and smoker.”
DRINK UP
But there are benefits of drinking tea, as long as you consume it at a reasonable temperature.
Dr Carrie Ruxton of the Tea Advisory Panel said the compounds found naturally in tea are beneficial in different ways to different age groups.
Adults trying to manage their weight can benefit from the polyphenols found in green tea which boost fat burning, according to controlled studies.
She explained: “For middle-aged adults, regular tea drinking brings benefits to metabolic and heart health by lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
“This is believed to be due to tea polyphenols which help to support vascular health and have anti-inflammatory effects.
“In the oldest adults, drinking tea has been linked with slower cognitive decline – potentially due to antioxidant benefits”.
