Summer is hot, and it's time for the season of drinking herbal tea. In hot weather, a glass of iced herbal tea is truly refreshing. However, you can't drink herbal tea without caution; there are some taboos we need to be aware of. These four types of people should be careful and not drink herbal tea indiscriminately.
Herbal tea is not tea. So-called herbal tea is actually a "herbal water decoction" made by boiling Chinese medicinal herbs with cold properties and the ability to relieve internal heat with water. Although it is also called "tea," its effects are not entirely the same as traditional tea. Tea brewed from traditional tea leaves often contains caffeine, which can excite and refresh the mind, allowing people to temporarily relieve fatigue and improve work efficiency. Drinking strong tea at night can make it difficult to fall asleep.
Herbal tea is not for everyone
Because herbal tea contains a large amount of cold-natured Chinese herbs, and since it has "medicinal" properties, it has certain contraindications and is therefore not suitable for everyone to drink.
1. People with Yang deficiency: These people are mostly office workers who sit for long periods. Symptoms include fear of cold, cold limbs, pale complexion, loose stools, and clear, frequent urination. For these people, drinking herbal tea is like "adding frost to snow," worsening the symptoms of Yang deficiency.
2. People with weak spleen and stomach: Consuming the cold-natured herbal tea can damage the spleen and stomach, making an already weak system even weaker. A further injury to the spleen and stomach will deplete the body's vital energy and, due to reduced immunity, can lead to many other diseases.
3. Women during menstruation and the postpartum period: A woman's body is extremely weak during her period and after childbirth, and is particularly sensitive to stimulation from cold and heat. If one drinks herbal tea without restraint due to the hot weather, although there may be a temporary cool feeling in the stomach, once these medicinal components are absorbed into the bloodstream, the cold stimulation will cause blood flow to become sluggish and stagnant, and may even lead to blood stasis, causing menstrual cramps, irregular menstruation, reduced flow, and in severe cases, even heavy bleeding or amenorrhea.
4. Children and the elderly: Children are considered to have a body of "pure Yang" and are very prone to "heatiness." However, drinking herbal tea is not a good way to prevent this in children, because their digestive and regulatory systems are still in the process of being established and perfected. They cannot promptly adjust to or adapt to the cold stimulation from external medicines, and instead, the direct effect of the medicine on the spleen and stomach can affect digestion and absorption, leading to abdominal pain and diarrhea. The elderly, due to their declining Yang energy and fading organ functions, can also suffer from digestive system disorders and a series of symptoms from a significant loss of Yang energy due to the stimulation from herbal tea.