Experts from The British Medical Journal carried out a study and found a high correlation between Drinking steaming hot tea and an increased risk of oesophageal (food tube) cancer. The oesophagus is a muscular tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach, the risk of cancer can be increased if black tea at temperatures of 70C is consumed on a regularly basis, the theory behind it is based on the fact that regularly drinking very hot drinks damage the lining of the gullet, therefore assuming a regular habit of eating and drinking very hot foods and drinks could increase your risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus.
In conclusion: Being a nation of tea lovers in the UK, we don’t tend to drink black tea at such high temperatures and we usually add milk, which cools it down, where as in eastern Europe and Asia this is not the case, although there was no conclusive association between the amount of tea consumed and risk of cancer. However some points to consider are:
- Adding milk, and gently stirring to aid the process of cooling down before consuming.
- Leave for 5mins to allow natural cooling, occasional stirring to speed the cooling process.
- Ideally tea should be less then 60C in temperature, to minimize the risk of cancer.
