Tea, turned out to be an accomplice of esophageal cancer?
According to “Look at the News”, Mr. Ding is 66 years old this year and is from Chaoshan, Guangdong. He likes to get together with old friends to smoke and drink tea every morning.
More than two months ago, Mr. Ding always had a feeling of being choked in his chest when he was eating. Finally, Mr. Ding went to the hospital for examination and was diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Why did I get esophageal cancer? Mr. Ding was puzzled, but the doctor told him that it was related to his usual habit of drinking tea. It was precisely because drinking hot tea for a long time would cause chronic damage to the mucous membrane of the esophagus, and then slowly become cancerous. Of course, this also has something to do with his usual habit of smoking and drinking.
The Chaoshan area of Guangdong likes to drink tea for health preservation, but the incidence of esophageal cancer is also frighteningly high, reaching 40/100,000 people. About 85% of the patients with esophageal cancer in Guangdong are from Chaoshan. .
Then the question is, is drinking tea regularly for health or cancer?
I. Drinking tea regularly can keep you healthy?
Tea was used to treat diseases from the very beginning – “Guang Ya” in ancient Chinese books records the earliest tea prescriptions. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, medicinal teas developed into single and compound prescriptions. use together. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, medicinal tea was continuously updated and enriched, and the tea prescriptions were even richer, not only covering pediatrics, gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, and dermatology, but also used in health care and other aspects.
In modern times, more and more people are studying the health benefits of tea. Published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a research team from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Hospital found that habitual tea drinkers had longer, healthier life expectancies and appeared to prevent heart disease. Vascular disease has the potential to reduce all-cause mortality.
The research team recruited 100,902 ordinary Chinese adults from 15 provinces in China as research subjects. The researchers divided the subjects into: habitual tea drinking group (more than three times per week), and never or non-habitual tea drinking group (tea drinking less than three times per week). After an average of 7.3 years of follow-up, the study found:
People who consistently drink tea three times a week, relative to those who never or non-habitually —
1. Heart 20% lower risk of heart disease and stroke; 20% lower risk of fatal heart disease and stroke;
2, 22% lower risk of fatal heart disease and stroke;
3, 15% lower risk of all-cause death ;
Tea may have a lifespan gain, but this study is an observational study, cannot establish a causal relationship between tea and reduced disease and mortality, tea does As a kind of food, it is necessary to reasonably view its health care properties, and it should not be overly relied on, nor can it replace professional medicines, and it is regarded as a magic medicine for disease prevention.
Second, Drinking these 4 kinds of tea has health risks
Drinking tea in moderation is good for the body, but some teas are not good for the body.
1. Tea that is too hot
Many people like to drink hot tea, it feels very comfortable to warm the stomach and body. But too hot food may increase the risk of esophageal cancer. The World Health Organization has clearly stated that Beverages over 65℃ are class 2A (probably carcinogenic) carcinogens.
Dr. Canqing Yu of Peking University Health Center led a large-scale study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. ) conducted a 9-year follow-up survey and found that high temperature tea drinking, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking significantly increased the risk of esophageal cancer.
2. Moldy tea leaves
In fact, tea leaves also have a shelf life, and most tea leaves can only be stored About 18 months, if stored for a long time, or improperly stored, it will become moldy. Moldy tea leaves may contain a lot of toxins, such as aflatoxin, which may cause dizziness, vertigo, diarrhea in mild cases, and liver and kidney diseases in severe cases.
3. Flavored tea
The tea leaves have a porous structure, which can easily absorb odors. If you drink tea that inhales paint, camphor smell, etc., it may cause harm to the human body.
4. Strong tea
Strong tea refers to tea with too much tea leaves and less water for brewing, resulting in a bitter taste of tea. This kind of tea, after standing for a period of time, will also appear a layer of tea oil. Strong tea contains a lot of caffeine, and excessive intake of caffeine may cause problems such as nervous excitement and rapid heartbeat. In addition, strong tea will also stimulate gastric peristalsis, increase gastric acid, lead to increased gastric mucosal irritation, and easily lead to gastric diseases such as gastric ulcers. It is worth noting that abnormal increase in gastric acid secretion and gastric ulcer are risk factors for gastric cancer.
3. Further reading: What kind of tea is suitable for spring?
With the arrival of spring, all things grow, and drinking tea is a good choice for health care. What are the functions of different teas?
1. Scented tea
Scented tea has a fragrant, pungent and scattered gas, which can help refresh the mind, invigorate the mind, and refresh the mood. When you are tired in spring, you can drink jasmine, sweet-scented osmanthus and other flower tea appropriately to help dissipate the coldness of the human body.
2. Mint tea
Mint can refresh the mind, disperse wind and dissipate heat, increase appetite, help digestion, and is suitable for relieving spring fatigue , drive away fatigue.
Finally, I would like to remind everyone that the caffeine in tea cigarettes has an excitatory effect. It is best to avoid drinking tea before going to bed, otherwise it will affect the regular sleep and affect the mental state of the next day.
References:
[1] “Academician Leads! A study of over 100,000 people shows that drinking tea can reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease”. China Biotechnology Network. 2020-01-11
[2] “Moldy tea can cause cancer, and can also cause important Organ disease? “. Nanshan Disease Control. 2021-01-06
[3] “Drinking tea is better than tonic, these seven cups of tea are drunk like this by different groups of people”. Guangdong Second Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2020-04 -23