The Yin and Yang Nature of Teas

[PuerhCollector]

Hello everyone,

The practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is not new but perhaps it is not often discussed in terms of tea. I believe that by using the knowledge of TCM for our tea selections we can optimize the benefits of this healthy drink. I have uploaded an entry to share my perspective and experience on the yin and yang nature of teas and for assessing what is best for the body’s constitution. Links available below.

http://theguidetopuerhtea.blogspot.com/ ... label.html

The different body constitutions of TCM
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/lifestyles ... tions.html

Best, Varat

[steanze]

Hi Varat!
Thanks for your thoughts. As long as there isn't any experimental evidence, I would be very very skeptical about health claims. Personal observation are susceptible to placebo effect, so they are not very reliable. Traditional Chinese medicine is culturally very interesting and it might indeed contain ideas that are medically valuable, but I would avoid making such claims before rigorous testing has been done.
Enjoy the tea

[bellmont]

Solid post Varat! I also wonder about TCM theory and tea drinking...as at times I often have a tendency to overdo it with my pu-erh drinking.

I actually just read about your health history/history with tea drinking the other day. I think an over-reliance on antibiotics is producing some much unhealthy and uneeded outcomes for folks...not to mention it destroys the microbiome. This is also why I have turned to tea, due to it's general TCM cooling properties and specifically, pu-erh's supposed increased level of bacteria and other living microbes. The thought being that both these aspects of pu-erh assist my own gut into a more comfortable and balanced state. It's interesting to be thinking about the non-human cells in our own bodies as having an effect on our overall well-being.

I don't mind the placebo effect's ability to heal. Get it 'mind'

I also wonder about the mind-body connection, from a representational point the more I allow myself to be in the moment while l drinking tea, the better I feel. Tea drinking at that point of time being representative of my whole body and mind experience. Furthermore, I try not to have specific goals when it comes to tea drinking... goals like "I want to be healed"...rather I just let my bodily experience express itself, pain and all. Through this bodily expression, while drinking tea and being in the moment, I find myself feeling better. Here is also where I find value and purpose in tea drinking. I think TCM offers a framework to understand this experience, which I am grateful for.

[PuerhCollector]

Hi Varat!
Thanks for your thoughts. As long as there isn't any experimental evidence, I would be very very skeptical about health claims. Personal observation are susceptible to placebo effect, so they are not very reliable. Traditional Chinese medicine is culturally very interesting and it might indeed contain ideas that are medically valuable, but I would avoid making such claims before rigorous testing has been done.
Enjoy the tea

Hello Steanze,

I don’t believe I made any health claims. It certainly is not my intention to do so. The blog entry and this forum is simply an opportunity for me to share my opinions and beliefs.

The placebo effect is an interesting idea. Personally I am not too concerned about it as there wasn’t really anything on the line either way this turned out (in relation to the effects on how different teas with their yin and yang nature would comparatively affect my body’s constitution and sense of wellness). >>>> As such without great cause and expectation my tea sessions were generally conducted in a relaxed environment whereby I would make observations of a given tea and my body’s reactions during and after drinking the tea. Additionally the lengthy period of time involved (10+ years), the frequency of my tea drinking (often multiple times daily), the range and variety of teas I drank, it is all pretty well covered and spread out to ensure a fair reflection of all major tea groups as well as being conducive to normalcy as I can get.

I am certainly not intending to present my observations as being concrete or factual. Take it for what it is, one person’s experience and view point . Perhaps it is something that may interest others to try out for themselves or there may already be others with similar experiences. I would most certainly like to hear from others out there with real life experiences.

Best, Varat

[Puerlife]

Personal observation are susceptible to placebo effect, so they are not very reliable.

That is your Western medicine bias. TCM is all about the practitioner and patient knowing how they feel, while in the West they tell you that how you feel is irrelevant. But even admitting the existence of the placebo effect is to admit that the mind has great power. The Chinese, through things such as Tai Chi And Qigong, have learned to direct and observe that power, while the West, sadly, tells us to ignore it.

[steanze]

To Puerlife: Placebo effect is well known in the West, and even used in clinical practice. However, only through rigorous empirical research it is possible to understand what placebo effect can and what it cannot accomplish. I am sorry you feel that in the West people say that what you feel is irrelevant. I am not sure I share this view - it seems more like a stereotype to me. Artistic expression is widespread in the West too, and there is a field known as clinical psychology that studies how to treat mental disorders specifically.

I am aware of the importance of psychosomatic interactions. The question is not whether we should believe or not in psychosomatic interactions, but what are the standards of evidence that we want to adopt in order to decide that something is "knowledge". Historically, anecdotal evidence has repeatedly led to bad decisions (e.g. people not vaccinating their children because of fears that it causes autism, to take a recent example). The use of controlled experiments has been more successful, contributing to the diffusion of medicine based on empirical evidence as a standard in most countries.

Toasting with pu erh to the different views that make conversation interesting

[steanze]

Hi Varat!
Thanks for your thoughts. As long as there isn't any experimental evidence, I would be very very skeptical about health claims. Personal observation are susceptible to placebo effect, so they are not very reliable. Traditional Chinese medicine is culturally very interesting and it might indeed contain ideas that are medically valuable, but I would avoid making such claims before rigorous testing has been done.
Enjoy the tea

Hello Steanze,

I don’t believe I made any health claims. It certainly is not my intention to do so. The blog entry and this forum is simply an opportunity for me to share my opinions and beliefs.

The placebo effect is an interesting idea. Personally I am not too concerned about it as there wasn’t really anything on the line either way this turned out (in relation to the effects on how different teas with their yin and yang nature would comparatively affect my body’s constitution and sense of wellness). >>>> As such without great cause and expectation my tea sessions were generally conducted in a relaxed environment whereby I would make observations of a given tea and my body’s reactions during and after drinking the tea. Additionally the lengthy period of time involved (10+ years), the frequency of my tea drinking (often multiple times daily), the range and variety of teas I drank, it is all pretty well covered and spread out to ensure a fair reflection of all major tea groups as well as being conducive to normalcy as I can get.

I am certainly not intending to present my observations as being concrete or factual. Take it for what it is, one person’s experience and view point . Perhaps it is something that may interest others to try out for themselves or there may already be others with similar experiences. I would most certainly like to hear from others out there with real life experiences.

Best, Varat

Dear Varat,

I think your personal experience is very valuable and it's great that you shared it here. I am sorry if I jumped out with a sudden critical response, sometimes I see a lot of claims about the health properties of tea, and so I am a bit sensitive to this topic and feel that such properties need to be evaluated with caution.
I also feel that young and aged pu erh have very different effects on me, and I tend to have them in different contexts, depending on many things like how I feel, the weather, the time of the day. I agree that listening to one's own body is important, in many ways, tea, food, tiredness, emotions ...

Best,
steanze

[PuerhCollector]

Solid post Varat! I also wonder about TCM theory and tea drinking...as at times I often have a tendency to overdo it with my pu-erh drinking.

I actually just read about your health history/history with tea drinking the other day. I think an over-reliance on antibiotics is producing some much unhealthy and uneeded outcomes for folks...not to mention it destroys the microbiome. This is also why I have turned to tea, due to it's general TCM cooling properties and specifically, pu-erh's supposed increased level of bacteria and other living microbes. The thought being that both these aspects of pu-erh assist my own gut into a more comfortable and balanced state. It's interesting to be thinking about the non-human cells in our own bodies as having an effect on our overall well-being.

I don't mind the placebo effect's ability to heal. Get it 'mind'

I also wonder about the mind-body connection, from a representational point the more I allow myself to be in the moment while l drinking tea, the better I feel. Tea drinking at that point of time being representative of my whole body and mind experience. Furthermore, I try not to have specific goals when it comes to tea drinking... goals like "I want to be healed"...rather I just let my bodily experience express itself, pain and all. Through this bodily expression, while drinking tea and being in the moment, I find myself feeling better. Here is also where I find value and purpose in tea drinking. I think TCM offers a framework to understand this experience, which I am grateful for.

Hello Bellmont,

I have a hunch that we are not the only ones to overdo our puerh drinking

I’m big on the diagnosis of Know Thyself! Generally I am a pretty contented person working with what nature has given me in terms of looking to my senses to tell me if things are ok. I don’t have all the answers and numbers to everything but if my body, mind and spirit as one is happy and well then I’m quite contented to leave things as they are.

The overuse of antibiotics is a big concern. It is just too easily prescribed by the medical profession here and often requested by patients for the most common and minor of ailments. Added to this the vast quantities of antibiotics used for raising animals under intensive farms have been indirectly transferring up the food chain to us for a long time. I hope not to sound too pessimistic but we are in for a rude awakening, living in a world of instant gratifications and seeking the “Quick Fix” without being aware of the big picture and consequences. Just one person’s impression on things of course.

I fully agree, having and positive mindset can work wonders. I just have to not think or touch those antibiotics.

Best, Varat

[PuerhCollector]

Dear Steanze,

I appreciate the reply. I understand where you are coming from as you quite rightly pointed out there are a lot of dishonest marketing that goes on out there.

REF
"I also feel that young and aged pu erh have very different effects on me, and I tend to have them in different contexts, depending on many things like how I feel, the weather, the time of the day. I agree that listening to one's own body is important, in many ways, tea, food, tiredness, emotions ..."
+1

Best, Varat