Men and women of all ages enjoy slowly brewing a pot of tea on weekends to relax and enjoy the leisure time of the holiday. While drinking tea is very pleasant, one must pay attention to the correct way of drinking it to avoid accidentally developing health problems. The following 18 ways of drinking tea can be harmful to your health, so please be careful.
1. Avoid drinking tea when you have a fever: The caffeine in tea not only raises body temperature but also reduces the effectiveness of medication.
2. Avoid drinking tea on an empty stomach: Drinking tea on an empty stomach dilutes stomach acid, inhibits gastric juice secretion, hinders digestion, and can even cause "tea intoxication" symptoms such as palpitations, headaches, stomach discomfort, dizziness, and irritability. It also affects the absorption of protein and can cause gastritis. If "tea intoxication" occurs, you can relieve it by sucking on candy or drinking some sugar water.
3. Avoid drinking large amounts of tea before or after meals: It is not advisable to drink tea about 20 minutes before or after a meal, as it will dilute stomach acid and affect food digestion. Moreover, because tea contains oxalic acid, it can react with iron and protein in food, affecting the body's absorption of iron and protein. 13. Avoid drinking overnight tea: It is best to drink tea freshly brewed. When tea water is left for too long, it not only loses nutritional components like vitamins but also easily becomes stale and spoiled, which can make you sick if consumed.
4. Avoid drinking the first infusion of tea: Because modern tea can be contaminated with pesticides, fertilizers, dust, and other substances during cultivation, processing, and packaging. The first infusion is actually for washing the tea leaves and should be poured out quickly before adding hot water again. This way, the brewed tea is the most hygienic.
5. Pregnant women should avoid drinking tea, especially strong tea. Tea contains a large amount of tea polyphenols and caffeine, which have many adverse effects on the growth of the fetus in the womb. To ensure the normal intellectual development of the fetus and avoid excessive stimulation from caffeine, pregnant women should drink little to no tea.
6. People with malnutrition should avoid drinking tea: Tea has the function of breaking down fat. For people with malnutrition, drinking tea to break down fat will worsen their nutritional condition.
7. Be cautious with tea when drunk: Tea has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system. Drinking strong tea after being drunk will increase the burden on the heart. Tea also accelerates urination, causing toxic aldehydes in the alcohol to be excreted by the kidneys before they are broken down, which is highly irritating to the kidneys and harmful to health. Therefore, people with heart or kidney problems or poor function should not drink tea, especially not large amounts of strong tea. For healthy people, they can drink a small amount of strong tea. After sobering up, they can eat a large amount of fruit or drink vinegar in small sips to speed up the body's metabolism and relieve drunkenness.
8. Be cautious about taking medicine with tea water: There are many types of drugs with different properties, so whether you can take them with tea water cannot be generalized. The tannins and theophylline in tea can undergo chemical changes with certain drugs. Therefore, when taking sedatives, hypnotics, iron-containing tonics, enzyme preparations, or protein-containing drugs, it is not advisable to take them with tea water, as tea polyphenols can easily react with iron to form a precipitate, which may affect the drug's efficacy.
9. Children should not drink strong tea: When the tea concentration is high, the content of tea polyphenols is too high, which can easily react with iron in food, hindering iron absorption and causing iron-deficiency anemia in children. Children can drink some weak tea (one-third the concentration of tea for adults). For preschool children, they can drink some coarse tea, as it has a lower content of tea polyphenols.
10. The elderly should not drink raw tea: So-called raw tea refers to roasted green tea that is dried directly after fixation without being rolled. This type of tea has a naturally green and vibrant appearance, and its internal components are basically the same as the compounds in fresh leaves, with little conversion and volatilization of low-boiling point aldehyde and alcohol compounds, giving it a strong "raw" or "grassy" aroma. When the elderly drink this green tea, it is highly irritating to the gastric mucosa and can easily cause stomach pain after consumption. Young people may also feel discomfort in the stomach after drinking it, which is commonly known as "scraping the stomach." If you accidentally buy this raw tea, it is best not to brew and drink it directly.
11. Patients with anemia should avoid drinking tea: The tannic acid in tea can combine with iron to form insoluble complexes, preventing the body from getting enough iron. Therefore, patients with anemia should not drink tea.
12. Patients with urinary stones should avoid drinking tea: Urinary tract stones are usually calcium oxalate stones. Since tea contains oxalic acid, it can combine with calcium excreted in the urine to form stones. If patients with urinary stones drink large amounts of tea, it will aggravate their condition.
13. Patients with liver disease should avoid drinking tea: Most substances in tea, such as caffeine, are metabolized by the liver. If the liver is diseased and too much tea is consumed, exceeding the liver's metabolic capacity, it can damage liver tissue.
14. Patients with neurasthenia should be cautious when drinking tea: The caffeine in tea has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system. Patients with neurasthenia who drink strong tea, especially in the afternoon and evening, may experience insomnia and worsen their condition. They can drink tea once in the morning and once in the afternoon. In the morning, they can drink scented tea, and in the afternoon, they can drink green tea, but not at night. This way, the patient will be invigorated during the day and calm at night, helping them fall asleep earlier.
15. Patients with ulcers should be cautious when drinking tea: Tea is a stimulant for gastric acid secretion. Drinking tea can increase the amount of gastric acid secreted, increasing the stimulation on the ulcer surface. Drinking strong tea often can worsen the condition. However, for mild patients, they can drink some weak tea two hours after taking medication. Adding sugar or milk to black tea can help reduce inflammation and protect the gastric mucosa, and also have a certain effect on ulcers. Drinking tea can also block the synthesis of nitrosamines in the body, preventing precancerous mutations.
16. Patients with coronary heart disease should be cautious when drinking tea: For coronary patients with a rapid heart rate, premature beats, or atrial fibrillation, the caffeine and theophylline in tea are stimulants that can enhance heart function. Drinking large amounts of strong tea can speed up the heartbeat, often leading to an onset or worsening of the condition. Therefore, such people can only drink some weak tea. In contrast, patients with a heart rate generally below 60 beats per minute should drink more tea, which is not only harmless but can also increase the heart rate and have a synergistic effect with drug therapy.
17. Patients with high blood pressure should not drink strong tea: "Strong tea" is defined as tea using less than 50 ml of boiling water per gram for the first infusion. If patients with high blood pressure drink too much strong tea, the stimulating effect of caffeine can cause blood pressure to rise, which is not good for health.
18. Patients with urinary stones should avoid drinking tea: Urinary tract stones are usually calcium oxalate stones. Since tea contains oxalic acid, it can combine with calcium excreted in the urine to form stones. If patients with urinary stones drink large amounts of tea, it will aggravate their condition.