Emma Miller
How to distinguish “dangerous” tea from healthy tea, how to drink it correctly, and why it’s so bad without a flavored drink.
It’s hard to imagine a day without a cup of flavored tea. Someone likes it with lemon and honey, and someone like it with “British” with bergamot and milk. In any case, it is impossible to deny that tea has become very firmly rooted in our daily routine.
So firmly that we sometimes forget that tea is not water. The drink certainly has beneficial properties, but it also has side effects.
Glavred will tell you what happens if you drink a lot of tea every day, and how much is actually a lot.
In China, one of the world’s leading producers of leafy beverages, tea is considered extremely useful if you follow the rules of the tea ceremony. In Europe, tea appeared in the 16th century, and since then, tea-drinking traditions have changed significantly, but one thing has remained unchanged – the benefits of tea.
A cup of fresh tea without additives takes about 2 hours to digest on average, and up to 5 hours if it is taken with milk, honey, or sugar. All types of tea contain vitamins, antioxidants, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, fluorine, calcium, etc.
The aromatic drink made from “fresh” or fermented leaves stimulates brain activity, strengthens memory, supports thermoregulation, promotes weight loss, lowers “bad” cholesterol, and is a delicious means of preventing colds.
However, in addition to nutrients, tea can contain a lot of fluorides that the plant pulls from the soil. The largest amount of fluorides are found in inexpensive tea brands due to the low quality of raw materials – old and spoiled leaves, trimmings, and even branches get into the package. The safest teas are those that use the youngest and uppermost parts of the tea bush.
Tea also contains tannins, which in large doses disrupt the body’s natural mechanism of iron absorption, which can lead to a deficiency of this element. This is especially true for iron that enters the body with natural foods.
The optimal “safe” dose of tea is considered to be 4 cups per day – up to 1 liter. This applies to loosely brewed black and green teas if the person is healthy. Elderly people, as well as those with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular system, are advised to limit their consumption to 2 cups of weak tea in the morning. Oolongs and pu-erhs should also be consumed in a minimum dose of 2 cups before lunch.
However, doctors advise choosing the rate individually, because in addition to the “dangerous” caffeine (the amount of which depends on the time of brewing tea – the longer you infuse the leaves, the more charge you get) and useful vitamins, it is important to take into account the characteristics of each organism.
Excessive consumption of tea can lead to the development of sleep problems, anxiety, increased psychological excitability, and exacerbation of gastrointestinal problems such as acidity and acid reflux (heartburn). Some people also experience withdrawal symptoms after abruptly giving up the drink.
It is also not recommended to drink tea on an empty stomach – your stomach will only thank you for this decision because you will relieve it of pain and heaviness. Reducing tea consumption is also worth it for the sake of a beautiful smile – all types of tea leave a dark coating on the teeth.
You should also be wary of it during pregnancy – a huge amount of antioxidants, which are generally considered beneficial, can lead to a negative effect – the washing out of nutrients, especially folic acid, from the body, which can cause significant harm to the fetus. Also, a shock dose of caffeine due to excessive consumption of tea can lead to a decrease in fetal weight and will interfere with muscle gain.
