They Knew That 150 Years Ago
Most people at some point in their lives have heard of Mrs Beeton, author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, and the most famous cookery writer in British history. I was intrigued to see her name mentioned in a recent article. The article in question related to a study carried out in Iran and concluded that drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of throat cancer. The Golestan Province in Iran has one of the highest rates of throat cancer in the world, despite its residents not smoking much and drinking little alcohol. However, nearly all the patients affected by throat cancer were found to drink very hot black tea, consuming more than a litre a day. What emerged from their findings was that people who drank tea at high temperatures were more likely to get oesophageal cancer. The scientists do not advocate drinking less tea but say tea should be left to stand for five minutes before pouring. There is no suggestion that drinking high volumes of tea is dangerous, and the fact that Western drinkers add milk to the tea automatically cools it down. What I found really interesting was a comment made by David Whiteman from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia who said: "We should follow the advice of Mrs Beeton, who prescribes a 5-10 minute interval between making and pouring tea, by which time the tea will be sufficiently flavoursome and unlikely to cause thermal injury." Amazing, it has taken a team of scientists in this day and age to come up with findings discovered by Mrs Beeton 150 years ago.
Most people at some point in their lives have heard of Mrs Beeton, author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, and the most famous cookery writer in British history. I was intrigued to see her name mentioned in a recent article. The article in question related to a study carried out in Iran and concluded that drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of throat cancer. The Golestan Province in Iran has one of the highest rates of throat cancer in the world, despite its residents not smoking much and drinking little alcohol. However, nearly all the patients affected by throat cancer were found to drink very hot black tea, consuming more than a litre a day. What emerged from their findings was that people who drank tea at high temperatures were more likely to get oesophageal cancer. The scientists do not advocate drinking less tea but say tea should be left to stand for five minutes before pouring. There is no suggestion that drinking high volumes of tea is dangerous, and the fact that Western drinkers add milk to the tea automatically cools it down. What I found really interesting was a comment made by David Whiteman from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia who said: "We should follow the advice of Mrs Beeton, who prescribes a 5-10 minute interval between making and pouring tea, by which time the tea will be sufficiently flavoursome and unlikely to cause thermal injury." Amazing, it has taken a team of scientists in this day and age to come up with findings discovered by Mrs Beeton 150 years ago.
