My Tea Addiction

I love tea.

Lately, I’ve probably been drinking too much. But hey, when you plan on cramming a large writing assignment in one 6:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m. session, you don’t have much choice- it’s either tea or coffee, and we all know which is the better choice. (#teaftw)

Disclaimer: please don’t judge me, I’m simply exaggerating for the purposes of this article. I am a responsible student who gets their work done early always 😉

But anyways, I drink a lot of tea. I initially thought this was fine- after all, I mostly drink green tea, and hasn’t there been a lot of buzz about how it’s good for your health and whatnot? Then I started to consider the possibility of too much of a good thing… and in the resulting fear that I would die drinking my last cup of tea, I turned to the first place any of us go when we have a question we need answered immediately- the internet.

No, I will not believe everything I read on the internet. But my research did yield some interesting facts, not only about the numerous benefits of drinking tea (reminders are nice!), but also about potential problems associated with drinking too much.

Benefits!

As nicely summed up on TODAY, the benefits of tea:

• Antioxidants yay!! (keep us living long 🙂 )
• Less caffeine than coffee (because tea is better than coffee so of course one must drink more)
• May reduce risk of heart attack/stroke
• May help with weight loss
• May protect bones
• Immune system booster!
• May battle cancer (somehow…)
• Naturally soothes the digestive system when you need it
• Zero calorie drink, and a great way to drink more water! (which we all know is good for us, right?)

This is just a quick list of the general properties of tea, but of course each kind of tea has its own benefits. There are so many kinds of tea, and so many properties of each tea type, that there really is a tea for everything: whether it be your caffeine kick, something refreshing after a long day, or a drink to help soothe your tummy after that awesome meal.

Potential Risks of Overconsumption

Sadly, there are also some problems associated with drinking too much tea…

But then, one must consider that in the end, there is nothing we can consume without limits. Even water shouldn’t be overdone, and if you look to reap the benefits of what you consume, you must do so mindfully, and have the right quantities of the right foods and drinks at the right time.

Anyways, some things to watch out for:

Caffeine

• a bit of caffeine is good! Hooray for energy!
• too much caffeine is bad for you
• too much tea can lead to caffeine dependency
• too much caffeine will kill you (no it won’t, but it’s not good for you)

Iron

• “Colorado State University reports that tea may reduce your ability to absorb iron by 60 percent.”
• basically, don’t drink tea when you’re trying to absorb iron – when we eat nutrients, we want them properly absorbed, and if another substance will interfere as in this example, then we render our consumption of nutritious foods less useful
• especially if you don’t eat much iron, too much tea could lead to iron deficiency

Now, the internet is also a dark place…

AHHH!! I was initially quite scared, and delayed reading this for a while… but I was brave, and did.

so, read it.

…In case you didn’t feel like reading the article (scary, I know!), this is a report of a man who drank 16 cups of black tea daily, and who experienced kidney failure and other health problems as a result. To be completely honest, though, 16 cups daily does seem ridiculous. Even I wouldn’t go that far- at worst, I would drink maybe 6 cups. Even so, it goes to show that no matter how beneficial a substance is, we really have to make sure we don’t overdo anything.

I suppose this is motivation for me to not become too dependent on tea, but at the same time, I feel good knowing that firstly, I’m not over-consuming it as it is, and secondly, tea is generally beneficial.

As my parents always liked to put it, everything has a time and a place. Benefits or drawbacks always change based on your situation, and that is no different with tea consumption and over-consumption. In the end, we all simply need to be mindful of what we consume, and ensure what we do is best for our health. Because after all, that’s really what matters in the end. 🙂

…so, new year’s resolution? see how close to 16 cups I can make it XD

that was a joke, by the way. perhaps in poor taste, but a joke nonetheless.

don’t do that.

Just because I love tea, and enjoy TEDed, I’ve also linked a TEDed video about the history of tea- enjoy!

Information: 1/2

1/2/3