March 28, 2009
Very Hot Beverages Increase Cancer Risk
While tea is rich in healthy compunds it also seems to bring with it a dramatic new risk: cancer. 
Compared with drinking warm or lukewarm tea (65C or less), drinking hot tea (65-69C) was associated with twice the risk of oesophageal cancer, and drinking very hot tea (70C or more) was associated with an eight-fold increased risk.
The speed with which people drank their tea was also important.
Drinking a cup of tea in under two minutes straight after it was poured was associated with a five-fold higher risk of cancer compared with drinking tea four or more minutes after being poured.
I replaced the old coffee fix from the donut shop with a green tea with milk some time ago. While I’ve come to really enjoy the mellow taste combination, I actually ordered the tea with milk thinking more about cooling-off the beverage, particularly as coffee shop hot water is wicked hot.
Even with the cold milk added, I take the lid off and put the tea aside for several minutes before I dare touch it.
If a group of coworkers are grabbing a quick break, I’ll take a smaller cup of coffee instead, and still add milk to it, as the tea takes too long to get to a tolerable temperature.
While this research may be suprising to some, it seemed to me that drinking an extremely hot beverage might not be the best idea.
Yet someone recently told me how they enjoyed drinking extremely hot tea. I now only wish I could remember who it was.
Then again, plenty of people know the risks of cigarette smoking and continue to enjoy their smokes.
Alcohol is also linked to esophageal cancer, so perhaps a dose of harm reduction is enough for now.