Any Tea drinkers here?

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13

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  • astridtheviking
    astridtheviking Posts: 113 Member
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    keylime_pie wrote: »
    Oh goodness. Clearly many of us are missing out on the zen effects of a nicely cupped tea. :p
    I worked in an artisan tea shop for a long while. It was my job to teach classes on tea and hold traditional tea ceremonies as well as be a consultant for taste and health benefits.

    Tea is very good for you and has been used medicinally throughout history (polyphenols and flavonoids to the rescue!). And- fun fact- it actually can aid the weight loss process! It speeds up your metabolism, simply put. Oolongs in particular are attributed with this, although that sort of differentiation between increasingly oxidized teas is a bit misleading since they're all the same plant.
    A great resource and reference for info like this is website called teaclass.com

    (:

    Tea is delicious, yes, but there are no peer-reviewed studies that conclusively show any of the things you suggest. It’s all nice stuff for tea shops to say, but it’s not exactly scientifically accurate.
  • RhineDHP
    RhineDHP Posts: 1,025 Member
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    Hot chamomile tea on a cold day... Bliss.
  • keylime_pie
    keylime_pie Posts: 9 Member
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    Here's the thing- I definitely agree with you.
    Tea is unfortunately a fad product these days and there are multitudes of studies that are...well, just wrong. Ridiculous people like Dr. Oz don't help. There's no such thing as totally detoxing your body, and tea won't make cancer disappear.

    But the benefits can't really be denied. Tea is full of antioxidants (particularly those catechins), L-theanine, and the uncountable benefits of tisanes. These things are there and saying 'nope...sorry' doesn't make them not there.
  • astridtheviking
    astridtheviking Posts: 113 Member
    edited January 2015
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    keylime_pie wrote: »
    Here's the thing- I definitely agree with you.
    Tea is unfortunately a fad product these days and there are multitudes of studies that are...well, just wrong. Ridiculous people like Dr. Oz don't help. There's no such thing as totally detoxing your body, and tea won't make cancer disappear.

    But the benefits can't really be denied. Tea is full of antioxidants (particularly those catechins), L-theanine, and the uncountable benefits of tisanes. These things are there and saying 'nope...sorry' doesn't make them not there.

    Antioxidants aren’t proven to really do anything, either - again, you have to sift past the hype and look at the science. Here’s a Harvard investigation of antioxidants that concludes that “the studies so far are inconclusive, but generally don’t provide strong evidence that antioxidant supplements have a substantial impact on disease"

    http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/#the bottom line on antioxidants

    Yeah, tea is full of antioxidants. But that doesn’t mean antioxidants really do anything. In fact, one study referenced in this article showed that antioxidants increased the risk for cancer!
  • DarianDunn
    DarianDunn Posts: 10
    edited January 2015
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    astridtheviking wrote: »
    Anybody can publish a phony study online - I think you should compare the facts that are really available.

    Google is your friend. It is easy to find peir reviewed studies.

    This being said, I don't care to convince you.


  • astridtheviking
    astridtheviking Posts: 113 Member
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    DarianDunn wrote: »
    astridtheviking wrote: »
    Anybody can publish a phony study online - I think you should compare the facts that are really available.

    Google is your friend. It is easy to find peir reviewed studies.

    This being said, I don't care to convince you.


    So you’re actually gonna ignore a study from Harvard because you think google serves you best? I’d re-evaluate how you make health decisions.
    MomOfOneGirl1995 wrote: »
    astridtheviking wrote: »
    keylime_pie wrote: »
    Here's the thing- I definitely agree with you.
    Tea is unfortunately a fad product these days and there are multitudes of studies that are...well, just wrong. Ridiculous people like Dr. Oz don't help. There's no such thing as totally detoxing your body, and tea won't make cancer disappear.

    But the benefits can't really be denied. Tea is full of antioxidants (particularly those catechins), L-theanine, and the uncountable benefits of tisanes. These things are there and saying 'nope...sorry' doesn't make them not there.

    Antioxidants aren’t proven to really do anything, either - again, you have to sift past the hype and look at the science. Here’s a Harvard investigation of antioxidants that concludes that “the studies so far are inconclusive, but generally don’t provide strong evidence that antioxidant supplements have a substantial impact on disease"

    http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/antioxidants/#the bottom line on antioxidants

    Yeah, tea is full of antioxidants. But that doesn’t mean antioxidants really do anything. In fact, one study referenced in this article showed that antioxidants increased the risk for cancer!

    I'm like you. I'll keep drinking tea because I like tea...but that's about it.

    Tea is awesome. It’s my favorite drink. It’s not some magical food that’s gonna cure cancer and make you skinny. Anything that claims that is basically a scam. Rock on for delicious food being worthy just because it’s delicious!
  • keylime_pie
    keylime_pie Posts: 9 Member
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    MomOfOneGirl1995 wrote: »

    I believe that they are full of antioxidents...but as for aiding in weight loss...that's what I mean.

    Drinking more water is good for losing weight, right? It fills you and and flushes your system out. Well, I was taught that depending on the steeping tea is about 98% water and 2% essential oils and polyphenols. As for the actual tea part, it's attributed with thermogenesis- and the caffeine stimulates energy (the xanthines counteracting the normal 'crash' given by coffee). Oolongs were traditionally served after a large meal in China because it helped with digestion- these days this has been attributed with the fact that it speeds up the metabolism, as I posted before. Also, pu'erh is a fermented type of tea, and the fermentation process is what makes it unique in the camellia sinensis drink family because it has probiotics, like a yoghurt. And...well...I've never heard anyone say that probiotics don't aid weight loss, haha. Most importantly, the multiple types of catechins help weight loss. They increase the amount of energy your body uses, which makes it easier for you to work off excess fats! I believe the only new-age studies that have been disputed about tea and weight loss are those crazy ones regarding catechins.

    I mean, to put it simply, you don't need the scientific studies to say tea does this or that. The things that are in tea are already proven do this and that.
  • astridtheviking
    astridtheviking Posts: 113 Member
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    keylime_pie wrote: »
    MomOfOneGirl1995 wrote: »

    I believe that they are full of antioxidents...but as for aiding in weight loss...that's what I mean.

    Drinking more water is good for losing weight, right? It fills you and and flushes your system out. Well, I was taught that depending on the steeping tea is about 98% water and 2% essential oils and polyphenols. As for the actual tea part, it's attributed with thermogenesis- and the caffeine stimulates energy (the xanthines counteracting the normal 'crash' given by coffee). Oolongs were traditionally served after a large meal in China because it helped with digestion- these days this has been attributed with the fact that it speeds up the metabolism, as I posted before. Also, pu'erh is a fermented type of tea, and the fermentation process is what makes it unique in the camellia sinensis drink family because it has probiotics, like a yoghurt. And...well...I've never heard anyone say that probiotics don't aid weight loss, haha. Most importantly, the multiple types of catechins help weight loss. They increase the amount of energy your body uses, which makes it easier for you to work off excess fats! I believe the only new-age studies that have been disputed about tea and weight loss are those crazy ones regarding catechins.

    I mean, to put it simply, you don't need the scientific studies to say tea does this or that. The things that are in tea are already proven do this and that.

    Polyphenols are antioxidants. As Harvard says, no proven studies showing they have real health benefits. Yes, caffeine stimulates energy but that’s not really a health benefit, is it? Whether you are yay or nay for caffeine is up to you, since it’s a drug. Oolong may aid in digestion but there aren’t really any conclusive studies. Sure, puerh has live bacteria during the fermentation process. But anything that’s still alive after being packed into a can and shipped to the US gets killed when you pour in boiling water. Lots of people dispute that probiotics aid weight loss. What, do the bacteria eat all your calories for you? Catechin is the polyphenol in tea (antioxidant, again, no real proof of anything) so.... You just said a bunch of stuff that again, is popular in forums and not backed up in labs and studies.
  • keylime_pie
    keylime_pie Posts: 9 Member
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    At this point we've boiled down to a -he said she said- discussion so I hardly see a point in going further.
    I think we've all generally agreed that plenty of claims are bull poop but that tea has a lot of excellent merits.
    Point in case, tea is delicious so people should drink tea, yes? :)
  • astridtheviking
    astridtheviking Posts: 113 Member
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    keylime_pie wrote: »
    At this point we've boiled down to a -he said she said- discussion so I hardly see a point in going further.
    I think we've all generally agreed that plenty of claims are bull poop but that tea has a lot of excellent merits.
    Point in case, tea is delicious so people should drink tea, yes? :)

    Tea is delicious and everyone should drink tea!
  • DarianDunn
    DarianDunn Posts: 10
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    I did a search for .edu and .gov and found multiple studies supporting my openion.
  • DarianDunn
    DarianDunn Posts: 10
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    MomOfOneGirl1995 wrote: »
    DarianDunn wrote: »
    I did a search for .edu and .gov and found multiple studies supporting my openion.

    unfortunately that doesn't mean they are right...lol...

    But Harvard is right?

    It sounds like you are locked into your position and not looking at the avaliable facts.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Has anyone tried Matcha tea?
  • luvred51
    luvred51 Posts: 163 Member
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    Bump!!!
    Thanks for sharing everyone.
  • LovingLifeInCalifornia
    LovingLifeInCalifornia Posts: 9,362 Member
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    I didn't many of the above comments (just the first few), so I'm not sure if it's repeating information. I just thought I'd share my experience.

    I was once a soda drinker - and when I mean soda drinker, I mean 4-6 cans a day. It was a bad habit. That was years ago. I have replaced soda with tea and water. For awhile, I was drinking, imho, too much tea - probably somewhere in the 4-6 cups a day range...of caffeinated tea, usually black or oolong. On the upside, I was awake and it felt like it suppressed appetite. However, drinking 4-6 cups of water may have down the same thing about suppressing appetite. haha. :)

    There are articles that discuss the benefits of the different types of tea. There are definitely benefits to drinking tea, but I still think that like with anything, too much of a good thing is probably not good. However, if the tea is going to replace the soda, then that in of itself is a benefit. We all know the evils of soda...

    Oh...and tea has potassium (not a ton), which is good since we are all deficient I'm sure. MFP recommends 3500 I think, but other sources say that we should have 4700. Can't remember the source....don't care enough to look it up. Either way, at present, I'm still not at 3500. :(
  • RhineDHP
    RhineDHP Posts: 1,025 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    Has anyone tried Matcha tea?

    I wanted to try it. There's this tea shop about an hour away from me that sells all sorts of stuff, and they had this whole matcha tea making kit. It was a little pricey though, so I passed on the purchase. Is it good?
  • patches212
    patches212 Posts: 15 Member
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    Can't say I've seen too much real science on any benefits or drawbacks to drinking tea. There are lots of opinions and claims out there from shady and reliable sources alike.

    If you want some serious studies maybe search for studies on more specific tea ingredients like ginger or lemongrass (or any of the million other dried herbs teas can be made from). Studies on the artificial flavours and strange additives that can be found in some teas are fairly accessible too. Generally might want to keep an eye out for funky ingredients if you care about that sort of thing....
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    RhineDHP wrote: »
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Has anyone tried Matcha tea?

    I wanted to try it. There's this tea shop about an hour away from me that sells all sorts of stuff, and they had this whole matcha tea making kit. It was a little pricey though, so I passed on the purchase. Is it good?

    I haven't tried it. The price put me off too

  • campdawson
    campdawson Posts: 69 Member
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    Some of my favorite teas are a blended green called Fiji from Serendipitea, Coconut Creme and the Formosa Oolong tea cake from Art of Tea, and a rooibos called African Solstice from Tea Forte. All are loose leaf teas. I use a French Press for multiple cups. I order online from the aforementioned tea purveyors.
  • momn2boize
    momn2boize Posts: 1 Member
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    I gave up coffee to lower my caffeine content. I also am avoiding green/white teas, even decaf teas to avoid caffeine. Since I am not looking for health benefits that may or may not exist, I opted for tea bags for their relatively inexpensive cost. I have come across four very inexpensive herbal tea bag teas from Celestial Seasonings. I like the True Blueberry, Peppermint and the Country Peach. But I have found the Bengal Spice to have a fun, slightly spicy (black pepper, ginger, cinnamon) taste that makes me feel satisfied in the morning and evening. When looking for health benefits, I try to obtain those from the actual foods that I eat. The only supplement that I take as of now are fish oil pills with the dioxin and mercury removed. Anecdotally, I have found my blood work to show great numbers (better than I was 30 as I am now 52). My goal is to up my game with some mild resistance training and power walking with my doggie. I probably didn't help the original question, but I thought would add my input since you actually did ask our opinion. :)

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