Tea (green) and nutrient absorption: what's the truth?

[LordFlashHeart]

There is no such thing as perfection and that includes tea.

The UK Tea Council’s guideline is to not drink more than 6 cups of tea a day.

In 2005 a woman in the US who drank 20 to 30 cups of ice tea a day, double-strength developed skeletal fluorosis. Fluoride is present in tea and tap water and if taken in mega doses it will harm you, remember even too much water could kill you. There could be a bazillion compounds in tea that could turn out to be harmful, we don't know what we don't know so "Everything in moderation"

Here is a link to some details surrounding the ice tea overdose case:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18179362

btw, i drink green, earl grey and chai, no more than 6 tea bags a day. Yea, That's right i use tea bags. I'm not into tea snobbery.

[chingwa]

Not into tea-snobbery?! sounds a little like being an anti-elitist elitist. I say be whatever you need to be in order to avoid teabags

[Chip]

Welcome to the forum, LordFlashHeart.

Not into tea-snobbery?! sounds a little like being an anti-elitist elitist.

+1

Did someone just call us TeaSnobs? If drinking GOOD tea means that we are labeled TeaSnobs, so be it. I just think we have better taste than in tea than the average teabag consumer. Of course, we are not drinking tea fannings nor tea dust. Nor would most of us since we want to enjoy the best tasting teas.

Drinking teabag tea is like drinking box wine, yeah it is drinkable ... and cheap.

But, drink what you like, like what you drink.

BTW, the woman and the iced tea example is pretty ludicrous and far fetched ...

[woozl]

Tea bags, and box wine are for camping,
And fluoride in the water is a bit Dr. Strange Gloveish.

[tortoise]

Tea bags, and box wine are for camping,
And fluoride in the water is a bit Dr. Strange Gloveish.

...ah, dr. strangeglove....

I guess in this day in age we'd need to update the metaphor and request actual birth certificates for each tea we order from a vendor.

Actually, come to think of it, THAT'S NOT A BAD IDEA.
he-he

[lkj23]

a frien of mine(related to health) always talk to me about fluor in tea, this is a real issue.

[tortoise]

a frien of mine(related to health) always talk to me about fluor in tea, this is a real issue.

I've been pointed toward a lot more data concerning fluorosis and tea consumption so I apologize for sounding glib. However, skeletal fluorosis is occurring mostly in populations who drink literally gallons of tea per day, not unlike the woman in the study linked to above.

I'm personally not concerned in the slightest given that my tea habit is not so intense and that I now focus on better quality tea. Quality of tea is clearly a factor as well.

[Chip]

Like just about anything else in life, too much of even a good thing can be harmful.

[LordFlashHeart]

Most of the green tea i drink is cold brewed. I toss about half a dozen green tea bags in a 2liter bottle of spring water and put it in the fridge for 24-48 hours to brew before i start drinking.

or, since i like green tea and ginger ale but i hate the greentea-ginerale you can buy at the supermarket so i make my own.

I use these directions and then toss in the green tea bags when I'm ready to put the ginger ale in the fridge.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Ch ... le_Ag0.htm

I've always wondered if I'm getting the same amount of nutrient from the green tea using these methods without heat.

[chingwa]

Well in general different compounds will be released from tea depending on the heat which is used to extract it. With cold brew teabags I am not sure what you are actually getting other than flavor (though I have not tried this method so am ill advised to offer concrete experience).

but I can confidently say anything good you may be getting out of those teabags (dubious from the start?) is being cancelled out by the ginger-ale.

so, in other words, don't worry about it. If you like the flavor then go for it.

[lkj23]

yes, moderation is the key in everything

[lekke]

+1 on that question

I drink tea for about a year now and about 3 liters a day. Some people I know warned me about health issues - but I laughed and said "I feel fine".
So what is that all about?

Wow, 3 liters! I'm super impressed right now
My little ritual is getting home in the afternoon and having some green tea in a 5oz cup. Most of the time I do two infusions.

Hope this is not stealing the discussion, but does anyone else have grief over not having their tea rituals at work?

[tortoise]

+1 on that question
Hope this is not stealing the discussion, but does anyone else have grief over not having their tea rituals at work?

There has been some discussion on this in the past. I think a lot of folks bring their tea into work. I don't for a couple reasons. One, I don't buy the volume of tea at present to get me through the work day too. If i did that, the tea I buy would be gone very quickly. Two, I just don't want to bring tea-ware up here and leave it, or, bring it here and take it home every day. That is just my work environment though. I imagine that many people could feel quite comfortable leaving their tea-ware at work.

[LordFlashHeart]

There has been some discussion on this in the past. I think a lot of folks bring their tea into work. I don't for a couple reasons. One, I don't buy the volume of tea at present to get me through the work day too. If i did that, the tea I buy would be gone very quickly. Two, I just don't want to bring tea-ware up here and leave it, or, bring it here and take it home every day. That is just my work environment though. I imagine that many people could feel quite comfortable leaving their tea-ware at work.

I enjoy my tea all day long at work as I'm not so burdened for the need of "tea-ware". You too can enjoy your tea at work, all that is required is for you to come over to the dark side and embrace the much maligned and misunderstood tea bag, The billions of satisfied users of tea bags over the last 100 years cant be wrong.

[chingwa]

I use this at work...




check it out on amazon

electric water kettle

though I don't use it the way they say with the little infusing section, I steep the tea in the main section so it has more room to expand / let loose (^_^) and then just pour into a normal mug through the built-in strainer. Works like a charm. I don't drink my better teas at work though, that would be a travesty. Nor do i bring in any fancy tea ware... don't have the time and am not in the right mind-set at work.

... but at least I don't have to use teabags.