Tea is one of the world's three major non-alcoholic beverages, enjoyed by people of different countries, skin colors, and social classes. Especially in the summer, the number of tea drinkers and the amount of tea consumed both increase. This is not only because tea can refresh, relieve summer heat, quench thirst, and detoxify, but more importantly, because it has nutritional, health-preserving, and disease-preventing effects on the human body.
Tea is one of the world's three major non-alcoholic beverages, enjoyed by people of different countries, skin colors, and social classes. Especially in the summer, the number of tea drinkers and the amount of tea consumed both increase. This is not only because tea can refresh, relieve summer heat, quench thirst, and detoxify, but more importantly, because it has nutritional, health-preserving, and disease-preventing effects on the human body. According to research, tea contains more than 600 chemical components, including five major categories of nutrients and substances with various medicinal effects, such as tea polyphenols and caffeine. However, in daily life, there are misconceptions about drinking tea. If one is not aware of them, entering these misconceptions not only offers no benefit but can also pose hidden health risks. Drinking tea before or after meals to "aid digestion"
In fact, drinking tea before meals can dilute saliva, making food tasteless, and can temporarily decrease the function of digestive organs in absorbing protein. Drinking tea immediately after meals can cause the tannic acid in tea to solidify the protein and iron in food, affecting the body's digestion and absorption of protein and iron, which is detrimental to health.
Strong tea to "sober up"
Some believe that drinking strong tea after alcohol has a "sobering" effect, which is a misconception. When people drink alcohol, the ethanol passes through the gastrointestinal tract into the blood, is first converted to acetaldehyde in the liver, then to acetic acid, and finally broken down into carbon dioxide and water and excreted by the kidneys. However, drinking strong tea after alcohol can cause the caffeine in the tea to rapidly exert a diuretic effect, thereby promoting the premature entry of acetaldehyde—a substance that is highly irritating to the kidneys—into the kidneys, causing damage.
Tasting new tea for "a refreshing feeling"
New tea refers to tea that has been picked for less than a month. This tea is superior in form, color, and taste, and drinking it is truly a pleasure. However, because the tea has been stored for too short a time, it contains high levels of polyphenols, alcohols, and aldehydes. Drinking new tea for a long time can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain and bloating. At the same time, new tea also contains highly active tannic acid, caffeine, and other substances. Excessive consumption of new tea can overstimulate the nervous system, leading to a "tea drunkenness" phenomenon characterized by limb weakness, profuse sweating, and insomnia.
Drinking tea will "raise blood pressure"
Tea has effects such as anticoagulation, promoting dissolution, inhibiting platelet aggregation, regulating blood lipids, increasing high-density lipoprotein in the blood, and improving the ratio of cholesterol to phospholipids in the blood. It can prevent the deposition of cholesterol and other lipid clots on blood vessel walls, thus preventing the narrowing of coronary arteries. Especially, tea contains catechins, which can lower the body's cholesterol levels and, consequently, blood lipids, thereby lowering blood pressure. Therefore, drinking tea can prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.
"Tea cures all diseases"
Some believe that tea is not only a safe beverage but also a good medicine for treating diseases. However, they do not realize that for some patients, it is not advisable to drink tea, especially strong tea. For example, patients with neurasthenia, hyperthyroidism, or tuberculosis should avoid it, as the caffeine in strong tea can cause excitement, insomnia, and increased metabolic rate, which is detrimental to rest. Caffeine in strong tea can also cause heart palpitations, and even arrhythmia and frequent urination in patients with hypertension, coronary heart disease, or kidney disease,加重加重 the burden on the heart and kidneys. Caffeine can also stimulate gastrointestinal secretion, which is not conducive to the healing of ulcers. Furthermore, the tannin in tea has an astringent effect, which slows down intestinal motility and worsens constipation. In addition, drinking strong tea can reduce the body's absorption of iron by 50%, and over time can lead to iron-deficiency anemia.