How hot is too hot?

Most of us love to have our tea nice and hot and probably served in our favorite mug or tea cup, but according to new research the heat we take our tea can have a detrimental effect on our health, potentially as dangerous as developing oesophageal cancer.

Drinking tea is not dangerous let’s be clear, but drinking hot liquids when combined with smoking and drinking alcohol can be.Chinese researchers studied the habits of tea drinkers and at the end of the study 1,731 cases of oesophageal cancer had been detected.

The study, which was published in Annals of Internal Medicine, involved assessing over 450,000 individuals aged between 30 and 79 across 10 areas of China over a nine-year period. The results of the lengthy study indicated that those who drank tea less than once a week and consumed less than 15g of of alcohol on a daily basis were far less likely to experience oesophageal cancer.

On the other hand, the individuals who drank hot tea and consumed 15g or more of alcohol every day were five times more likely to develop the cancerous condition.

People who smoke regularly and drink burning hot tea were also twice as likely to develop the disease.