By: Janice Tai

Food, glorious food - but watch what you eat and how you cook it to stay away from that dreaded 'C' word.

Oh, let that hot beverage cool too.

Iranian researchers have found that drinking very hot tea may cause throat cancer.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal in March, found that drinking very hot tea at a temperature higher than 70degC was associated with an eight-fold increased risk of throat cancer compared to sipping warm tea at less than 65degC.

The researchers also found that people who regularly drank tea less than two minutes after pouring were five times more likely to develop the cancer compared to those who waited four or more minutes.

They could not explain how hot tea causes cancer but one possible trigger is the repeated thermal injury caused to the lining of the throat.

'The Chinese have a saying that calls for soups and beverages to be drunk while still hot, but common sense should prevail over such old wives' tales,' said Dr Wong Seng Weng, medical director at The Cancer Centre.

You should also avoid cooking certain meats at high temperatures.

A study published in June this year in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition showed a significant link between red meat intake and breast cancer risk in countries with an increased proportion of high-temperature cooking like frying, deep frying, roasting, barbecuing and grilling.

Meat intake itself is not linked to breast cancer risk.

Cooking certain meats at high temperatures creates chemicals that are carcinogenic or cancer-causing.

Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are the carcinogenic chemicals formed from the cooking of muscle meats such as beef, pork, fowl and fish, said the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the United States.

HCAs form when amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and creatine (a chemical found in muscles) react at high cooking temperatures.

One study conducted by NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics found a link between individuals with stomach cancer and the consumption of cooked meats.

They found that those who ate their beef medium-well or well-done had more than three times the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef rare or medium-rare.

Frying, broiling and barbecuing produce the largest amounts of HCAs because the meats are cooked at very high temperatures.

The NCI's advice is to vary methods of cooking meats and microwaving meats more often, especially before frying, broiling or barbecuing because doing so will reduce the levels of HCAs.

Refrain from making gravy from meat drippings too as these will have substantial amounts of HCAs.

Another known carcinogen that is formed in food that is cooked in high temperature is acrylamide.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said acrylamide is known to cause cancer in animals and certain doses are toxic to the nervous system of both animals and humans.

WHO advises that food should not be cooked for too long or at too high a temperature.

Acrylamide has so far not been found in food prepared at temperatures below 120degC, including boiled food.

We should also consume less processed food.

'Food additives or preservatives that are added to processed food may react with DNA in cells to cause cancer,' said Ms Chang Yok Ying, a pharmacist at the National Cancer Centre Singapore.

A 2007 report published by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research found that there is convincing evidence suggesting that consuming processed meat increases colorectal cancer risk.

It added that eating salt or salted and salty food leads to a probable increased risk of stomach cancer.

'Excessive salt intake causes damage to the lining of the stomach which increases the risk of gastric cancer,' said Ms Chang.

There is also convincing evidence that alcoholic drinks increase the risk of mouth, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus cancer.

'I would advise men not to drink more than two units (glass, can or shot) of alcohol a day and women no more than one unit,' said Dr Wong.

He added that alcohol causes direct injury to the tissues in the mouth and throat.

Dr Wong also said housewives should not reuse cooking oil - not even once - as the oil will release carcinogenic substances as a result of repeated usage.

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times.