In the world of tea drinking, loving tea and understanding it are two different things. People who love tea drink it every day, while understanding tea requires a certain amount of time and effort. Tea, a simple leaf, brings people a remarkable value and return. In modern life, whether as a beverage or a symbol of value, the knowledge and connections that tea brings to people are profound.
Drinking tea is enjoyable, nourishing, and healthy. However, if you're accustomed to drinking tea without paying attention to the proper methods, you may not only fail to appreciate its delights but also lose out on its health benefits, and it could even harm your body. Let's take a look at some considerations for drinking tea!
Do Not Drink Too Hot
Drinking excessively hot tea can irritate the oral and esophageal mucosa, causing localized inflammation. From a nutritional perspective, slightly cooled to warm tea is best. Drinking too cold tea can result in a loss of nutritious components over time, such as catechins and vitamin C, which are easily oxidized substances.
Do Not Drink Before Bed
This point is particularly important for new tea drinkers. Many people find it very difficult to fall asleep after drinking tea before bed, which can severely impact their mental state the next day. Those with neurasthenia or insomnia should be especially cautious.
Avoid Strong Tea
Drinking strong tea can lead to the ingestion of higher amounts of caffeine and theophylline, stimulating the central nervous system and causing excitement. This can lead to excessive activity, lack of focus, and impact work and rest. Drinking strong tea before bed can affect sleep, potentially causing insomnia. Tea has a cooling nature, and drinking strong tea by elderly or weak individuals may cause gastrointestinal issues. When brewing tea, pay appropriate attention to its strength. Strong tea can excessively increase the body's “excitability,” having an adverse effect on the cardiovascular and nervous systems. For those with heart disease, drinking strong tea can lead to rapid heartbeat, irregular heartbeat, and exacerbation of their condition.
Avoid Drinking Around Meals
Drinking a small amount of tea before or during meals is generally fine, but consuming large quantities or very strong tea can affect the absorption of many macronutrients (like calcium) and micronutrients (like iron and zinc). It's essential to avoid drinking tea while consuming milk or other dairy products. The theophylline and tannic acid in tea can react with proteins from other foods, forming insoluble tannic protein complexes, which are hard to digest.
Avoid Drinking After Alcohol
After drinking alcohol, ethanol enters the bloodstream through the gastrointestinal tract and is converted to acetaldehyde in the liver, which is then converted to acetate and finally excreted as carbon dioxide and water. Drinking tea after alcohol consumption can cause the caffeine in tea to rapidly promote diuresis in the kidneys, leading to premature exposure of unmetabolized acetaldehyde to the kidneys. Acetaldehyde can have a significant stimulatory effect on the kidneys, potentially causing renal dysfunction. Furthermore, ethanol has a significant stimulatory effect on the cardiovascular system, and tea also stimulates the heart. Together, they can further enhance the stimulation of the heart. For individuals with heart disease, drinking tea after alcohol is even more dangerous.
Avoid New Tea
New tea can irritate the gastric mucosa, causing gastrointestinal discomfort and potentially worsening any existing conditions. From a nutritional standpoint, the nutrients in very fresh tea leaves may not be optimal. Freshly picked tea leaves, defined as those harvested less than one month ago, haven't had enough time to age. They contain substances that can negatively impact health, such as polyphenols, alcohols, and aldehydes, which haven't been fully oxidized. Drinking fresh tea regularly can lead to symptoms like diarrhea and abdominal distension.
Avoid During Menstruation and Pregnancy
It's not recommended to drink tea during menstruation, as the high concentration of tannic acid in tea can hinder the absorption of iron, exacerbating iron deficiency in women.
During pregnancy, it's not advisable to drink strong tea. The caffeine in tea can affect fetal development, and tea promotes diuresis, increasing the heartbeat rate and placing additional strain on the heart and kidneys. If you must drink tea, it's suggested to consume a small amount of light tea one hour after meals. Iron deficiency can affect hemoglobin levels, leading to iron-deficiency anemia, which negatively impacts fetal development.
Avoid With Medications
If you take medications containing aluminum, iron, or enzymes, these can react with the polyphenols in tea, forming crystalline precipitates. The stimulating effects of caffeine in tea can counteract the sedative and hypnotic effects of certain medications. Experts recommend avoiding tea consumption two hours before and after taking medication.
Avoid Stale Tea
When tea leaves are steeped overnight, the beneficial substances like vitamins and minerals are significantly reduced, and there's a risk of environmental contamination. Some teas have high levels of heavy metals, and steeping them for extended periods increases the heavy metal content in the tea infusion.
Avoid Drinking on an Empty Stomach
Drinking tea on an empty stomach can dilute gastric acid and juices, hindering digestion. It may also cause palpitations, headaches, gastric discomfort, dizziness, irritability, and impair the absorption of proteins, potentially leading to damage of the gastric mucosa and chronic gastritis.
Here are some situations where tea enthusiasts might have certain habits:
Using a Thermal Mug
Many tea enthusiasts enjoy using thermal mugs to brew tea, but this practice is incorrect. Continuous high temperatures can cause excessive extraction of tannins and theophylline, making the tea taste bitter and reducing its nutritional content.
Not Changing the Tea Leaves
Some tea enthusiasts, in order to save tea leaves or for convenience, like to use the same batch of leaves all day long. This practice is not ideal. Regardless of the type of tea, there is a limit to the number of infusions. Tea brewed within these limits tastes the best. Repeatedly infusing the same batch of leaves dozens of times results in poor flavor and little nutrition. Moreover, harmful substances in the tea leaves are fully extracted, offering no health benefits when consumed.
Steeping for Too Long
Tea enthusiasts who prefer strong tea often let the leaves steep longer to make the tea more concentrated. A tea that should steep for a few minutes is left for ten to twenty minutes. While this does make the tea stronger, it also extracts about 80% of the caffeine and 60% of other soluble substances, making it taste bitter and harsh on the digestive system.
Drinking Raw Pu'er or Green Tea Every Day
As we know, Pu'er tea comes in raw and ripe varieties. Raw Pu'er and green tea, both non-fermented or semi-fermented teas, are known for their fresh aroma and sweet aftertaste. Many people enjoy them and drink them daily. These teas can help clear the mind, quench thirst, relieve heat, and improve vision. However, green tea and raw Pu'er are cooling in nature, and excessive consumption can harm the stomach and overall health. It's better to