New Health Insights from a Thousand-Year-Old Tea Tradition. Chinese people have loved drinking tea for over a thousand years. In the past, people drank tea for two reasons: to quench their thirst and for health preservation. How can drinking tea preserve health? Not everyone, then or now, understands this. However, as research on tea continues to deepen, some of its drawbacks have also become apparent. With the new tea season upon us, relevant experts are reminding tea lovers that unscientific and unreasonable tea consumption can be detrimental to health.
Tea drinking should be moderate.
Tea is our country's traditional beverage. It contains large amounts of tannic acid, theophylline, caffeine, and small amounts of aromatic oil, various vitamins, chlorophyll, and other ingredients. Drinking tea in moderation can promote saliva secretion to quench thirst, remove dampness and clear heat, refresh the mind and strengthen the brain, and prevent illness and lighten the body, which is greatly beneficial to human health. However, as a special beverage, tea has its own inherent taboos. Medical experts warn us that only moderate tea drinking is a good habit for health preservation and care.
By "moderate," it is meant, first, that the tea should be of moderate strength; generally, 3 grams of tea is used to brew a cup of tea. If the tea is too strong, it will affect the body's absorption of inorganic salts such as iron from food, leading to anemia. Second, it is important to control the amount of tea consumed, with 8-10 cups a day being appropriate. Excessive tea drinking will increase the burden on the kidneys. Third, avoid drinking tea within an hour before or after meals, as it will affect the body's absorption of protein. Fourth, attention should be paid to contraindications; the following patients should not drink tea:
Anemia patients, especially those with iron-deficiency anemia. The tannic acid in tea can cause iron in food to form insoluble precipitates that the body cannot absorb, often worsening the condition.
Patients with neurasthenia, hyperthyroidism, or tuberculosis. Because the caffeine in tea can increase basal metabolism, it can exacerbate these conditions.
Patients with stomach and duodenal ulcers. Because the caffeine in tea can stimulate gastric juice secretion and the ulcer surface, worsening stomach diseases and ulcers.
Patients with liver or kidney disease. Caffeine in tea is metabolized by the liver and kidneys, which is not conducive to the recovery of liver and kidney function for those with impaired function.
Patients with habitual constipation. The tannic acid in tea has an astringent effect, which can worsen constipation.
Patients with kidney or urinary tract stones. The tannic acid in tea can lead to an increase in stone formation.
Patients with high blood pressure and heart disease. The caffeine in tea has a stimulating effect on human blood and blood pressure. Drinking too much tea can accelerate blood flow, raise blood pressure, and may even lead to arrhythmia.
Pregnant women. Drinking too much tea can cause anemia, and the newborn may have a lower birth weight due to insufficient blood supply from the mother.
Nursing women. Because the caffeine in tea can pass into the baby's body through breast milk, causing the infant to have spasms, irritability, and unexplained crying.
Eight types of tea that should not be drunk.
Strong tea. Strong tea contains large amounts of caffeine and theophylline, which is highly stimulating. Drinking strong tea can lead to insomnia, headaches, tinnitus, blurred vision, and is also bad for the stomach; some people may even feel nauseous.
Moldy tea. Contains a large amount of toxins.
Tea with mixed flavors. Some of these flavors are toxic, such as paint, camphor, etc.
Slightly burnt tea. Tea that has been over-roasted has lost its nutritional value and does not taste good.
Overnight tea. Especially tea that has changed flavor, even if it doesn't taste bad, it is likely to have bred a large number of bacteria.
Long-steeped tea. When tea is steeped for too long, many substances harmful to the human body are leached out.
Cold tea. Tea should be consumed warm. Cold tea has the drawbacks of stagnating cold and accumulating phlegm.
Hot tea. Tea is generally brewed with boiling water, but it should not be consumed when it is too hot. Extremely hot things are extremely harmful to the human stomach and intestines.
Love tea? Wash your cup often.
Some regular tea drinkers like to have a thick layer of "tea scale" in their teacups, as if this shows they are a "tea-loving" group. Some even believe that brewing tea in utensils with tea scale makes the tea more flavorful. In fact, tea scale is extremely harmful to human health. For this reason, medical experts issue a warning: love tea, but don't forget to wash your cup often.
Scientific research has shown that in a humid environment, tea water quickly oxidizes to form brown tea rust, which contains various harmful metals such as cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic. Unfinished or long-stored tea water, when exposed to the air, undergoes an oxidation reaction between the tea polyphenols in the tea and the metal substances in the tea rust, forming tea scale that adheres to the inner walls of the teaware, accumulating thicker and thicker over time. A sample analysis of tea scale once found that it also contains certain carcinogens, such as nitrites, which are obviously a threat to human health.
As tea drinkers "drink frequently," the tea scale continuously enters their digestive system, where it easily combines with proteins, fatty acids, and vitamins in food to form various harmful substances. This not only hinders the human body's absorption and digestion of nutrients in food but also damages many organs.
Therefore, tea lovers should also wash their cups often. For teacups with long-standing tea scale, it can be completely removed by scrubbing repeatedly with toothpaste. For teapots with tea scale, they can be cleaned by heating with rice vinegar or soaking with baking soda for a whole day, followed by repeated rinsing and shaking.