Thursday TeaDay 8/27/09 Tea and minor illness?

[Chip]

Good TeaDay everyone. Please do drop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed what we put into our tea. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Do you believe tea can help prevent or suppress common illness such as colds and sinus infections? Personal experience? Please share.

I am as always looking forward to sharing yet another TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up ...

[Salsero]

I tend to be a skeptic about the health claims made for tea. I suspect that fruits, vegetables, and well balanced diets have more effect on health than tea ... or any other single item, for that matter.

Still, I'd rather hear a constant stream of health claims than health warnings!

[brlarson]

I voted `maybe'. Like Sal, I tend to be a skeptic about health claims, but I believe there probably are health benefits associated with drinking teas that are at most partially oxidized. I have a friend who was diagnosed with inoperable bladder cancer. She stopped drinking coffee and switched to gunpowder green tea and within a couple years the cancer receded from her bladder. Her doctor couldn't explain it.

I don't know that tea helps prevent colds, but I do believe that it helps to keep me healthy.

I finished the day with a cup of wei shan mao jian.

[Ebtoulson]

GREEN TEA, THE NEW ULTIMATE DIET. CURES CANCER, HIGH CHOLESTEROL, WEIGHT MANAGEMENT, DEPRESSION, FINDS TRUE LOVE, MAKES YOU RICH.

jk...I don't think its a miracle drug or diet but I don't think it hurts since I does provide nutrients and vitamins.

[brlarson]

GREEN TEA ... CURES CANCER ...

I know it sounds sketchy, but my friend is alive. Also, it's possible that the coffee was killing her and what saved her was kicking it

[entropyembrace]

I said maybe....one thing it does cure for sure is water retention...but that's the only thing I'm really sure of.

That said I do feel healthier since I've been drinking real tea (camelia sinesis) and drinking tea feels wonderful for my body But it's more or less the same kind of feeling I get eating fruits and vegetables so I'm not going to assign any mythical powers to the tea.

[Trey Winston]

Whenever I get a cold, it always goes straight to my throat, making it sore for days. Drinking tea seems to alleviate some of the soreness for a short while, whereas c*ffee doesn't. Coincidence? I think not.

Semi-enjoying some White Peony right now. Less than perfectly brewed, methinks, too dark and bitter. Oh, the hardships we must endure.

[chrl42]

I believe in 'preventing', rather than 'curing'..

Drinking a lot of water might assist in resisting colds, though I don't think it'd do better than ginger tea (that's what we do in asia)

For one thing, I remember the faces of tea house owner, calm, peaceful, forever in bloom
I remember 'baby-faced' old man in a poem, who Li Bai himself believed to be due to drinking a lot of tea
or emperor Qian Long, who lived the longest among all Chinese emperor, famous for a quote "can't survive a day without tea"

[CynTEAa]

Ah, there's so much we don't know, but I think it helps just based on personal experiences. Even if it is only a placebo effect, I'll take it!

Hope everyone had a great TeaDay!

Sencha in my cup...

[Aphroditea]

The idea that tea can keep you healthier and even help with some illnesses is as old as the drink itself. But, like Cyn said, there is still so much we don't know. We don't really know how the antioxidants and flavanoids and whatever else really affect us.

For me, I voted other, because I really just don't know. I would like to think so. But, since I have several health problems all related to a broken immune system I am not sure the mystical benefits ever work on me. On the other hand, my mother, who also has health issues due to a messed up immune system, does seem to get sick more often than I do and she drinks coffee while I drink tea. But, that is hardly a solid scientific study.

Sick today. Something going around. Three kids in my child's class went home sick yesterday and going to the movies with friends last night got cancelled because myself and two others in the group were sick. Gonna lay into the tea heavily today and see if I get better faster

[depravitea]

I went with - Yes, I believe so.

I'm a pretty lucky person.
I rarely get sick. If I do, I kick in just a few days. Tea, for me, is more an enjoyment with a possible bonus of healthy preventative maintenance. It's not a miracle though, you can't eat Big Macs all day then think tea's going to save your arteries.
My thinking on the tea=health topic is this:

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it's packed with polyphenols/antioxidants. So there is somewhat a health aspect about it. It's calming for a lot of us when we make it and/or drink it, so that must be a positive psychological aspect as well, right?
Bonus points for mental health.
There have been a couple people who mentioned a good feeling about drinking it, as though it were the same as a healthy fruit/vegtable, and I agree with that, same here. Tea is a guilt free drink, and it beats the pants off soda.
I won't bother going into how excellent the history of tea is, but I might say that an interest in tea promotes literacy! (Ok, I'm pushing it.)

This morning - Mao Feng green.
It's PACKED with polyphenols.
( I just made that up. It tastes healthy though.)

[depravitea]

Gonna lay into the tea heavily today and see if I get better faster

A likely excuse lol
Just kidding, hope you feel better.
If you do get a chance to go tho the movies, check out District 9, it's excellent!

[depravitea]

Man, I'm really jealous of that bundle of tea, it looks so good!!
(And healthy lol)

[Maitre_Tea]

I didn't have a cold had a time, a tea I drank had so much cha qi that it knocked me out...would be useful in distracting the cold. I've had some tea with cha qi that smoothed out the tensions in my muscles and just calmed me down.

Enjoying some Dong Ding, and eagerly awaiting my spur-of-the-moment order from Floating Leaves ... I wonder if it'll arrive today.

[shogun89]

From personal experience, yes, tea does help prevent and cure common illnesses. From testing on my sister, she claims that puerh defiantly has an effect on curing hangovers. I've noticed significant relief from colds.