茶太燙，會致癌

The World Health Organisation advises we wait for our morning cup of English breakfast to cool slightly to decrease the risk of getting cancer of the oesophagus. But just how hot is too hot?

世界衛(wèi)生組織建議，喝茶的時候等水涼一涼，可以降低患上食道癌的風險。但到底多熱是太熱?

Until now, most research has been rather vague on the actual temperature part. After all, what is scalding to one person might be another's perfect brew. At last we have a number to help you decide when to take your first sip.

到目前為止，大多數(shù)研究具體的溫度部分都比較模糊。畢竟，每個人對燙的具體感受都有所不同。我們這里倒是有一個數(shù)字供您參考。

An international team of researchers have come together to objectively nail down a Goldilocks temperature for drinkers of hot beverages, and found that once the drinking liquid creeps past 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit), you're taking your chances.

曾有一支國際團隊希望確定熱飲適宜入口時的客觀溫度，然后發(fā)現(xiàn)60℃很合適。

To give you a sense of what that feels like, most of us will start to experience discomfort when we touch a surface that's approaching 50 degrees Celsius. So unless you're something of a masochist when it comes to that first mouthful, the news isn't all that bad.

Emmmm。如果你喜歡喝茶的同時體驗受虐式的口腔刺激，那不妨一試。

"Many people enjoy drinking tea, coffee, or other hot beverages," says Farhad Islami from the American Cancer Society.

“許多人喜歡喝茶，咖啡或其他熱飲，”美國癌癥協(xié)會的Farhad Islami說，

"However, according to our report, drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of oesophageal cancer, and it is therefore advisable to wait until hot beverages cool down before drinking."

“然而，根據(jù)我們的報告，飲用非常熱的茶會增加食道癌的風險，因此建議等熱飲料冷卻后再飲用。”

There's plenty of research telling us the temperature of our drinks can affect our chances of developing cancer. Exactly how it does this isn't clear, but the evidence suggests damage caused by blanching our throat's cells is probably responsible.

有大量的研究支持上面的結論。不過我們尚不清楚熱飲引發(fā)食道癌的機理，但證據(jù)表明，喉嚨細胞被燙傷時造成的損害可能是致癌元兇。

Most studies on the topic focus on the more popular habit of tea drinking, asking participants to comment on how they prefer their water.

關于該主題的大多數(shù)研究都集中在更受歡迎的飲茶習慣上，還需要參與者上報自己的水溫偏好。

It might be a quick and easy way to collect data, but few people are likely to offer precise figures. So advisory groups such as the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer lean on animal studies that suggest 65 degrees Celsius is a suitable cut-off limit.

這可能是一種快速簡便的數(shù)據(jù)采集方式，但很少有人能夠提供準確的數(shù)據(jù)。因此，世界衛(wèi)生組織國際癌癥研究機構等團隊利用動物實驗，發(fā)現(xiàn)65℃是一個合適的臨界值——當然這很燙。

To improve on previous studies, researchers initiated an investigation in Golestan Province, northeast of Iran – an area already subjected to scientific scrutiny for both its culture of tea drinking and its relatively high incidence of oesophageal cancer.

為了改進實驗，研究人員在伊朗東北部的Golestan省開展了一項調查——該地區(qū)以其飲茶習俗和相對較高的食道癌發(fā)病率而聞名癌癥研究界。

An added bonus was the low incidence of smoking and alcohol drinking, habits which could have affected results.

當?shù)?，另有一個好處是，當?shù)匚鼰熀惋嬀频娜巳汉苌?，這些不良習慣可能會帶來誤差。

Starting in 2004, trained data collectors gathered information on more than 50,000 participants, recording details on everything from their smoking habits to their socioeconomic status to how long they tended to wait before drinking their tea. They were then followed up over the years with phone calls, checking in on their health.

從2004年開始，訓練有素的數(shù)據(jù)采集人員收集到了超過50000名參與者的醫(yī)療—生活信息，從吸煙習慣到社會經濟狀況，乃至喝茶前他們要晾多久的所有細節(jié)。多年來，他們通過電話跟進，追蹤目標人群的健康狀況。

Most importantly, the team served tea during the initial interview calibrated to a piping hot 75 degrees. Guests were then invited to take a sip and comment whether it felt close to the temperature they preferred.

最重要的是，該團隊在初次面試時，進行了面對面的茶水熱度實驗，提供了75℃的熱茶，然后邀請客人啜飲并評論。如果有客人感覺太熱，團隊就等水溫降低5℃后再次邀請客人品嘗。

For those who liked it a little cooler, the team let the water's temperature fall another five degrees before asking again.

如果還是覺得燙嘴，就繼續(xù)降低5℃，以此類推。

The end results sound a little concerning. Those who drink less than 700 millilitres of tea (roughly two mugs worth) heated to more than 60 degrees Celsius nearly doubled their risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus compared with 'cooler' drinkers.

結果有點令人擔憂。那些習慣日飲用700毫升60℃以上熱茶的人，患上食道癌的風險比其他人群幾乎翻了一番。

Of course, we need to put those numbers into perspective. This form of cancer ranks around number eight in most common cancers, with a lifetime risk for those in the US of around 1 in 132 men and 1 in 455 women.

當然，我們需要對這些數(shù)字進行分析。這種形式的癌癥在大多數(shù)常見癌癥中排名第八，對于美國人來說，每132名男性和455名女性中，就有1人罹患食道癌。

For those in other parts of the world, such as Iran and China, it's a far more common disease, with other contributory factors to do with diet and smoking affecting incidence rates.

對于世界其他地區(qū)，例如伊朗和中國，這是一種更常見的癌癥，致病因素與飲食和吸煙有關。

Before you ditch the kettle, it helps to keep in mind drinking tea – especially of the green variety – just might help lower risks of a variety of cancers.

不要因此拒絕喝茶——尤其是綠茶——研究發(fā)現(xiàn)它們有助于降低各種癌癥的風險。

Evidence is mixed, but having a few cups of unsweetened tea a day probably isn't going to do much harm.

雖然證據(jù)不一，但每天喝幾杯不加糖的茶反正也不會造成太大的傷害。

Just make sure you hold off for a few minutes to let it cool first.

只要你耐住性子，等它涼了。

This research was published in the International Journal of Cancer.

該研究發(fā)表在《國際癌癥期刊》上。