Jan 4th, '09, 17:12
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Do you ever get nauseous from certain kinds of tea?

by reawx » Jan 4th, '09, 17:12

I once bought "Rosebud Sencha" from Teavana, which among other things appeared to have rose petals in it. Every time I drank it I got nauseous. I also got mango (I believe it was mango) tea last year from Adagio and it, too made me nauseous. I had a little before a jog and I remember I had to stop in the park and gag a bit. Recently I got some currant black tea, also from Adagio, and just now this tea did the same thing. I suddenly felt nauseous (and just my luck, I was making a tuna sandwich) and gagged and even yakked a bit.

Does anyone else have experiences like this? I know that black tea, particularly, is thought of as a bit rough on the stomach sometimes, but I often drink it with no issue. I am wondering if there is some common factor in these teas (they are, after all, flavored, and I drink alot of non-flavored teas too) For instance, perhaps some sort of plant compound present in the additives used to flavor the tea?

Just wondering what everybody's thoughts are.

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Jan 4th, '09, 17:22
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by ABx » Jan 4th, '09, 17:22

My bet would be the flavoring, which IIRC is usually oils. It sounds a bit like an allergy, are you allergic to perfumes or anything? Does it really only happen with the flavored teas? Lastly, have you had any that aren't artificially scented, but rather include bits of aromatic stuff like orange peel, cinnamon, clove, etc?

There's a lot of tea with strong fruit and floral aroma and taste without being artificially flavored/scented. So this might be a good excuse to get into the better teas :D

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Jan 4th, '09, 19:04
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by tenuki » Jan 4th, '09, 19:04

Japanese green tea.
Do something different, something different will happen. ( Gong Fu Garden )

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Jan 4th, '09, 19:39
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by geeber1 » Jan 4th, '09, 19:39

I've had that issue a couple of times, once with Ginger Peach and the other with Candy Cane. I just assumed this was because I was drinking it on an empty stomach, but maybe it is the flavoring oils.

But now that I think of it, I've had it occasionally with plain blacks.

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Jan 5th, '09, 13:11
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by heavydoom » Jan 5th, '09, 13:11

yeah. i get very sick when i drink too green/vegetal tky. it's vomit inducing.

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Jan 5th, '09, 13:16
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by Chip » Jan 5th, '09, 13:16

Not a tea per se, but I got plain old jasmine buds from TeaSpring, it is nothing but unopened buds of jasmine. Makes me sick just thinking about it. I never had a reaction to true jasmine scented teas.

It has been 2 years since I got them, they are still in my TeaFridge, I should give it another try, maybe.
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Jan 5th, '09, 14:01
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by Bubba_tea » Jan 5th, '09, 14:01

I'm pretty sure that green tea causes your qi to rise - and sometimes too strongly, which makes the stomach qi rebel upwards, causing nausea. Sometimes my eyes even wig out - causing nystagmus.

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by Cecilia » Jan 5th, '09, 16:00

Not nausea, but I once drank 4 cups of chamomile in a row during cold season, and started feeling 'funny', like it was more difficult to breath or something. I looked it up online, and learned some interesting things about chamomile. Now I will only drink two cups in a row.

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Jan 5th, '09, 17:27
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by silverneedles » Jan 5th, '09, 17:27

i never got nauseated/stomach probs from any kind of tea in any quantity

Bubba: nystagmus !? how much of what tea you drink to get nystagmus (probably lots of caffeine - so i want some :))

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Jan 5th, '09, 19:30
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by Sydney » Jan 5th, '09, 19:30

I'll become nauseous if I consume much of any caffeinated beverage on an empty stomach. No teas stand out more than other teas in this regard, though.

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by wyardley » Jan 5th, '09, 21:02

I sometimes get a stomach ache if I have way too much strong tea. In general, I would take any reaction like feeling sick from drinking a particular tea a sign that I shouldn't drink that tea in the future.

Could be too much pesticide residue, could be the flavorings (sounds like at least one of the teas you had a problem with was a scented / flavored tea)... could just be a tea that doesn't agree with your system.

I would try drinking a good quality tea from whole tea leaf that contains only one thing: tea... preferably within a few hours of having at least something small to eat. Then let us know if that makes you feel nauseous still.

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Jan 6th, '09, 13:41
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by leiche » Jan 6th, '09, 13:41

Sencha gives me a terrible stomach ache accompanied by nausea, and Dong Ding and very green TGY tend to give me headaches.

So far, everything else is fine.

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Jan 6th, '09, 16:39
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Re: Do you ever get nauseous from certain kinds of tea?

by auggy » Jan 6th, '09, 16:39

reawx wrote:....gagged and even yakked a bit.
Okay, I must be evil but this line made me think of when one of my cats smells my toothpaste. She always thinks she wants to smell it, but when she does, she has a little gag/yurk/smack thing... so I kind of pictured you doing that. But in a non-mean way, I promise! :)

I have gotten queasy from a blood orange I had. At first it was good but I think it was just overwhelmingly sickeningly sweet, it made me nauseous. Because of that, I'm pretty hesitant to drink fruit tisanes.

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Jan 6th, '09, 23:30
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by Tea Noob » Jan 6th, '09, 23:30

I have thrown-up twice from the same tea. It is a Keenum Black with orchid. I didn't have breakfast either time before having the tea and I assume that was the problem. I really like it and just make sure to have some food in my stomach before pounding a few cups. For a guy that lived many years purely on caffeinated beverages I doubt it was the caffeine. I am not sure what leaches into the water with tea or whether it was the orchid that caused it. Either way, that is my only experience with adverse effects from tea.

Jan 8th, '09, 17:26
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by GregFoldsTime » Jan 8th, '09, 17:26

I've sort of felt the same thing when drinking certain teas from YamaMotoYama. Their Oolong tea and Green Tea with Brown Rice makes my stomach uneasy. Although I have never thrown up because of it, I would suspect that it is because of the acidic/basic nature of these traditional teas. On the box it signals the drinker that the teas should be enjoyed after a meal. Im guessing that its because of its PH.

For future refrence, look up the ingredients and do a mental note of the acidity/basic nature of the tea you are drinking. Acidic teas will generally give you a sour, writhing stomach. Basic teas will give you a full, bloated and gassy stomach (feels like you are being smothered).

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