Although it seems unnatural, on hot summer days a cup of hot tea can cool the body, causing more sweating in a short period of time, which has been shown to lower body temperature. But how hot should the tea be?
Freshly brewed tea is one of the few drinks that combines good taste and health effects, but a study published on the website of the British Medical Journal warns of the risks of drinking too hot tea. If the temperature of the intake fluid is above 65 ° C, sharply rose risk of cancer of the esophagus .
There are several cancers of the esophagus, killing more than 500,000 people each year. Its most common form is squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, which in Europe and America is most often caused by heavy use of alcohol or tobacco.
Researchers from the British Academy of Sciences decided to study a geographically limited group of people who are known to have modest tobacco and alcohol use. They have an abnormally high incidence of cancer compared to people from other places. Common in all groups is the consumption of tea.
Researchers pay special attention to the "tea habits" of the studied individuals, initially avoiding the temperature factor because they thought that tea itself could have a hidden toxic effect.
Only when analyzing their data do they report that taking hotter tea (65-69 ° C) doubles the risk of esophageal cancer, and very hot, hot tea (70 ° C or higher) increases the risk. since the development of this type of cancer has increased eightfold .
This study supports the view that thermal damage to human tissues can cause epithelial forms of cancer, although the way in which heat causes tumor development is not yet known.
The research team advises tea fans around the world to wait for it to cool before consuming it. This also applies to all other foods and beverages with heat treatment.
Although there is no official data on all beverages, the mechanism of thermal damage is hardly very different, and if tea damages tissues when it is too hot, so would other beverages. It is recommended not to eat or drink at temperatures above 65 ° C.