A new study has suggested that boiling hot tea has been linked to the increase in esophageal cancer.
But it doesn't apply to everyone, just people who smoke or drink alcohol. The study, published by Annals of Internal Medicine, states that its results show 'hot' or 'burning hot' tea is linked to an increase in esophageal cancer in heavy smokers and heavy drinkers.
Heavy alcohol drinkers are considered to be those who consume more than 15grams of alcohol per day, while smokers are defined as smoking more than one cigarette per day.
The study was conducted in China and surveyed approximately 500,000 adults over the course of 9 years. They were asked to rate their tea consumption on a daily basis on how 'hot' it was. There was no connection between non-smokers and hot tea in terms of cancer.
According to
The Guardian, commenting on the results, researchers said, "compared with participants who drank tea less than weekly and consumed fewer than 15g of alcohol daily, those who drank burning hot tea and 15g or more of alcohol daily had the greatest risk for oesophageal cancer."
Jun Lv, lead professor behind the study, also said that, "drinking hot tea contributed to cancer only when it clustered with smoking and drinking alcohol excessively."
The conclusion of the study was for people who drink alcohol or smoke to abstain from drinking hot tea.
It's worth noting that a higher percentage of boiling hot tea is consumed in China, rather than in Europe where we add milk or leave it to cool. Therefore this study might only apply to certain cultures.
