Drinking ‘burning hot’ tea or coffee ‘increases your risk of oesophageal cancer by as much as 5 times’
In their study of 450,000 people, experts found that having a piping hot beverage was even more carcinogenic to those who smoke and drink alcohol
NECKING a scalding cuppa raises the risk of throat cancer up to five times.
A study of more than 450,000 adults reveals adults who liked their tea or coffee “burning hot” were harming their health.
It found those who like their drinks piping were five times more likely to get oesophageal cancer – or gullet 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.”
The study is published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Participants in the study reported whether they enjoyed drinking tea at “warm/room temperature”, “hot” or “burning hot”.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer defined scalding beverages as hotter than 65 °C and warned they were “probably carcinogenic to humans”.
Nearly 9,000 Brits a year are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.
But it is often not caught until it has spread, meaning survival rates are low.
Prof Jane Green, Professor of Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, said: “Hot drinks may increase risk simply by damaging the cells lining the gullet, making them more susceptible to other risk factors, and it is probably wise to avoid anything which might do this but this study does not mean that most people should stop drinking tea.
“In the ‘high risk’ group - those who drink moderate to high amounts of alcohol and also smoke - drinking hot tea daily about doubled their risk.”
Experts said Brits are unlikely to drink their tea as hot as the Chinese, as we add milk.
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Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, The Open University, said: “In the UK most people seem not to drink their tea nearly that hot, and it would be difficult to get it that hot if you put milk in it, as many people do here.
“If you do frequently drink extremely hot tea, maybe this study should persuade you that it might be worth reconsidering that habit – but you’d probably do a lot more to reduce your risk of oesophageal cancer by giving up smoking and not drinking too much alcohol.”