Drinking piping hot tea could increase your risk of esophageal cancer, a new study claims.
Researchers found that people who preferred tea above 140 degrees Fahrenheit and drank more than 24 ounces of tea a day (about two large cups) had a 90 percent higher risk of esophageal cancer than those who drank less tea and at cooler temperatures, CNN reported.
The study, which included more than 50,000 adults in Iran, was published in the International Journal of Cancer.
“Many people enjoy drinking tea, coffee, or other hot beverages. However, according to our report, drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of esophageal cancer, and it is therefore advisable to wait until hot beverages cool down before drinking,” lead author Farhad Islami, from the American Cancer Society, told CNN.
A previous study linked hot tea with esophageal cancer, but this new one is the first to pinpoint a specific temperature, according to the researchers.
Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer in the world and kills about 400,000 people a year, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
In 2019, the United States will have 13,750 new cases of esophageal cancer diagnosed in men and 3,900 new cases in women, the American Cancer Society estimates.
Cancer In Kenya
Recently, a week-long screening of 300 people yielded 22 who were found to have various cancers.
Of the 22, seven women were found to have breast cancer, other 12 women were found to havecervical cancer cancer and one man was found to have prostate cancer.
The screenings were done at Mama Lucy and Mbagathi hospitals.
The health officials said the cases were at manageable levels.
In July, three prominent Kenyans succumbed to cancer; Former Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, Former Kibra MP Ken Okoth and Joyce Laboso, the former governor of Bomet.
The deaths sparked huge debates about the causes of the disease, the way forward in terms of what the government ought to do, but curiously those debates never focused so much on the push against Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs), sugar containing traces of mercury and other harmful chemicals, which lends the fact that the leaders are more concerned with themselves other than the welfare of the general publics.
The local media has reported cases of suicide by less well-off people who had been diagnosed with cancer.
The debate is also raging on the issue of hot tea and sour milk, known as mursik causing cancer.
Some argue that the cancer is not caused by the hotness of the tea but by chemicals present in cow milk.
Either way, in this debates, Kenyans must be vigilant of introduction of GMO into the country, because in such an unhealthy debate where all foods consumed by Africans seem to be dammed. What’s the end game?
The World Health Organization (WHO) already sounded an alarm on Sukuma Wiki and Ugali.
In a report, WHO warned that consumption of the collard greens– otherwise known in Kenya us Sukuma Wiki over a period of time can lead consumers to have heightened levels of arrogance.
In another statement, according to IVF specialist Dr Shaunak Khandwala, contaminated ugali has negative effects as it can cause infertility in men because it contains aflatoxins that can reduce the sperm count.
Though it is a fact that most of Nairobi’s eateries cut corners in order to make profits, let’s not go the 100% processed food way that am sure the big food joints such those from the western countries i.e. KFC, Burger King would want us to go so that they can make a profits in both processed foods and in Healthcare.
You ask how?
Here it is: Big pharma and good industry giants collude in a cycle of poison people so that they can go to hospital and in the end, ‘they all make profits’.
Cancer is not among the top three killers in Kenya, but must be tackled as a serious issue. But first of all laws must be adhered to and the country run properly.
Be vigilant.
