Tea for a fever/bad cold?

[fire_snake]

Hi everyone:

Last night I was hit pretty hard a by a fever, sweated out the night and barely slept. Slight headache but more congestion than anything else, sinus pressure, etc.

I feel better today, but I'm home from work just to be on the safe side. The chills have gone away, but I'm still struggling with cold symptoms and I feel somewhat weak and lethargic.

Would tea be a good remedy in this case?

What I have on hand:

Sencha
Matcha
Gunpowder
Tie Guan Yin

I'd appreciate opinions and advice.

Christian

[Chip]

Sencha is my panacea.

I am somewhat serious about this, but if you all ready have a full blown cold, you just have to ride it out. I have had sencha stop oncoming colds in their tracks ... seemingly.

[entropyembrace]

like I said in a recent similar thread....there´s not much difference between the health benefits of different teas so just drink what you like, or feel like having the most....at the very least drinking something warm like tea will help clear up mucus a bit.

Just don´t let the caffiene from tea disrupt your sleep or contribute to sleep disruption...sleep is what will help you get better quickly more than anything else.

[fire_snake]

Thanks, Chip.

I suspected that the Tea Lifestyle has an impact on warding off illness, and perhaps easing what cold or flu-related ailment one might already have.

I'm becoming accustomed to Sencha, although what I have now probably isn't the best quality. It's light, refreshing, easy to drink, uncomplicated. Like a comfy pair of shoes, almost.

I already have a nice Sencha/Gyo sampler on the way. I can't wait.

Entro:

In any case, it can't hurt, right? If consumed during daytime hours I should be fine in terms of caffeine intake. At least I'm reassured that a cold or fever is no cause to stop enjoying tea, especially for the health benefits.

Christian

[DoctorD]

I too find sencha a good choice before/during a cold, for psychological if not medicinal reasons.

[odarwin]

how about antibiotics? is it still ok to drink tea while on antibiotics?

[Xell]

As far, as i know caffeine in green tea is a bit different that in coffee. Not that bad and it's fine to consume quite big amount of green tea daily, like 5-10cups is considered quite healthy actually. You can't say same for coffee

Sencha sure helps to heal infection in throat, tried it myself. But chamomile tea during cold probably will be still a bit better

Also what i was told by doctor here in Japan, green tea is fine with antibiotics, but can react to other kind of medicine. Which one i don't know.

[entropyembrace]

As far, as i know caffeine in green tea is a bit different that in coffee. Not that bad and it's fine to consume quite big amount of green tea daily, like 5-10cups is considered quite healthy actually. You can't say same for coffee

Sencha sure helps to heal infection in throat, tried it myself. But chamomile tea during cold probably will be still a bit better

Also what i was told by doctor here in Japan, green tea is fine with antibiotics, but can react to other kind of medicine. Which one i don't know.

Caffiene is caffiene (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine in organic chemistry terms) it has exactly the same chemical structure and effect in your body if it came from tea as it does if it came from coffee...how much there is in any specific tea (or coffee for that matter) is quite variable depending on the varietal, growing conditions, processing and how you brew. How much you can tolerate is largely dependant on your genetics...more specifically the genes that encode for the receptor sites which can be stimulated by caffiene and the liver enzymes involved in metabolizing caffiene. Some people can drink large quantities of tea and coffee in a day with no ill effects....others will get heart palpitations from a single cup of tea.

Tea and coffee have many similar compounds including a lot of anti-oxidants and anti-infamitories that are commonly associated with health benefits

You can see this link for some of the health benefits associated with coffee
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/featu ... ealth-food

I think it´s easy to overstate the health benefits of things like this...including green tea...partly this is the researchers fault when writing the papers and designing studies they tend to exagerate the benefits if they´re getting funding from the industry producing the food product they´re studying....and also it´s easy to read things like "green tea reduces the risk of cancer" and jump to the conclusion that green tea will totally prevent cancer or will cure cancer...which is incorrect but very common...

But my point is that coffee doesn´t really deserve a rep as an unhealthy drink...

Also caffiene, no matter the source is the same...if you´re sensitive to it green tea will cause the same problems as coffee.

As for interactions between anti-biotics and tea the only one I am aware of is that tea reduces bacterial resistance to most common anti-biotics which makes them more effective...but if you´re taking anti-biotics it wouldn´t hurt to ask your Dr to be sure tea won´t cause any harm.

[Xell]

That's what i read and where from i got this idea of "different caffeine". Caffeine in tea combined with aminophylline forms theophylline, which has softer effect than caffeine itself. Not to mention, that green tea has a lot less caffeine. From my drinking experience of coffee and green tea, i can say for sure, green tea has a lot softer effect. Even from one cup of coffee i have spike of hyperactivity. And with green tea i can drink 3-5 cups in a row without any noticeable effect, maybe my mind gets a bit more "clear"

[Tead Off]

The best tea for a cold already in progress that I've experienced is yarrow tea, an herbal tea. This stuff makes you sweat and urinate, helping to purify more quickly.

All teas can help your mood as a pick me up when under the weather. Puerh is particularly good.

[entropyembrace]

That's what i read and where from i got this idea of "different caffeine". Caffeine in tea combined with aminophylline forms theophylline, which has softer effect than caffeine itself. Not to mention, that green tea has a lot less caffeine. From my drinking experience of coffee and green tea, i can say for sure, green tea has a lot softer effect. Even from one cup of coffee i have spike of hyperactivity. And with green tea i can drink 3-5 cups in a row without any noticeable effect, maybe my mind gets a bit more "clear"

The difference is caffiene levels come from the difference in solids vs water ratio...for coffee it´s typical to use 14g+ for a 240ml (8oz) cup. Most measures of green tea are based on 2-3g in a teabag and steep times and temperatures which are less than for coffee. The tea leaves have more caffiene in them to begin with...which is why matcha can be a pretty strong hit of caffiene...but most green tea brewing has pretty low dosing compared to drip brewing.

Where coffee and tea seem to line up more in dosing is espresso (7g per shot) vs gongfu brewing...and in that case I find tea much more stimulating.

I wouldn´t blame theophylline for the lesser effect of tea, there´s not much of it compared to the caffiene content and it´s more, not less stimulating to the brain and heart than caffiene.

I´m quite sure the real reason you find green tea gentler than coffee is a lower dosing, brew temperature and time leading to a low extraction of caffiene (and other dissolvable solids) in the cup and not any difference in the type of caffiene in tea.