After a busy day, what could be more pleasant than coming home and making a cup of steaming, fragrant black tea? Looking at the bright red tea soup, smelling the rich tea fragrance, taking a sip, the warmth spreads all over the body instantly, and the fatigue of the day seems to be dispelled. With its unique aroma and warming effect, black tea has long become an indispensable part of many people's lives. Whether it is a cold winter day or a lazy afternoon, a cup of black tea can just comfort the body and mind.
But although black tea is good, there are many ways to drink it! In daily work, many people have brought trouble to their bodies because of improper tea drinking habits. Especially black tea, everyone thinks it is a healthy drink, but many people don’t know much about it, and often ignore some important details unconsciously, which greatly reduces their health. Today, we will combine actual cases to tell everyone what you need to pay attention to when drinking black tea.
Let’s talk about the problem of excessive drinking of black tea first. As soon as winter comes, the popularity of black tea rises sharply. Many people can't live without it almost all day long, thinking that it can both refresh and warm the stomach. Mr. Liu, an office white-collar worker, has a lot of work pressure and needs to concentrate on various tasks for a long time every day. In order to keep a clear mind and improve work efficiency, he has developed a habit of drinking several cups of black tea every day. When he arrives at the company in the morning, the first thing he does is to make a large cup of black tea, and he keeps refilling the cup during work. At the end of the day, he has to drink at least four or five cups.
At the beginning, Mr. Liu didn't feel anything strange. He was secretly glad that thanks to this black tea, he always maintained a good condition during high-intensity work. But gradually, he found some strange changes in his body. Every afternoon, his legs began to swell, and a small pit would appear when he pressed it lightly with his fingers, and it would take half a day to recover. Moreover, he always felt that his waist was heavy, as if something was pressing on him, which was very uncomfortable.
At first, Mr. Liu thought it was just too tiring at work and he just needed to take a rest. But this situation lasted for a long time, and the symptoms not only did not ease, but became more and more serious. He began to worry a little, so he went to the hospital for a check-up. After a detailed examination, the results showed that his kidney function had slightly decreased. I carefully asked about his lifestyle and found that he drank too much black tea.
Black tea contains a high amount of caffeine. Although this caffeine can stimulate the nervous system, make us awake, alert, and work more energetically. But its metabolism in our body requires the help of the liver and kidneys. Like Mr. Liu, who drank black tea excessively for a long time without restraint and consumed a large amount of caffeine, the kidneys and liver had to work overloaded to metabolize these caffeine. Over time, the burden on the kidneys became heavier and heavier, and eventually affected the normal function of the kidneys.
So, although black tea can refresh you, don't be greedy! Generally speaking, one to two cups a day is a more appropriate amount. Especially for friends who don't have good kidneys, they should pay more attention to controlling the amount of drinking and don't add extra burden to the kidneys.
Let's talk about the interaction between black tea and drugs. Nowadays, many people have their own drug treatment plans. For example, patients with hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease have to take medicine regularly according to the doctor's instructions. But when you drink black tea, have you ever thought that it may "conflict" with the medicine you are taking?
There is a patient with hypertension, Mr. Wang, who has been receiving treatment. He takes antihypertensive drugs regularly according to my advice, and also takes some supplementary drugs. Mr. Wang likes to drink tea very much and thinks that drinking tea can refresh his mind. During the treatment, he still drinks a lot of black tea every day as usual, thinking that this will make him more energetic and help with treatment.
But after a while, Mr. Wang found that his blood pressure became very unstable. The blood pressure, which had been well controlled, suddenly began to fluctuate up and down, sometimes even twice as high as the normal value. He was very anxious and hurried to the hospital to find me. I carefully asked him about his life and medication during this period, and found that the problem was the black tea he drank.
The caffeine contained in black tea will interact with antihypertensive drugs, making the efficacy of antihypertensive drugs weakened. Uncle Wang drank a lot of black tea while taking medicine, which made it difficult to effectively control his blood pressure. This scared Uncle Wang. He never thought that the black tea he always liked to drink would affect the treatment effect.
Therefore, if you are taking medicine, especially friends who are taking medicine for cardiovascular diseases, you must be extra careful when drinking black tea. It is best not to drink black tea within a few hours before and after taking medicine to avoid interactions between medicine and black tea, which may cause unnecessary side effects and affect the treatment effect.
Then let's talk about the problem of improper tea drinking time. Black tea has a strong taste and is quite irritating. If you drink it on an empty stomach, it will irritate your stomach. I have met Ms. Zhao who loves to drink black tea. She has a habit of drinking a large cup of black tea on an empty stomach every morning after getting up without eating anything. She thinks this can both refresh her and start a day full of energy.
But over time, Ms. Zhao began to feel stomach discomfort frequently. Sometimes it was a slight pain, and sometimes she felt a burning sensation in her stomach, which was particularly uncomfortable. At first, she didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just a minor problem and that she would pass it if she endured it. But later, the symptoms became more and more severe, and the pain made her sweat coldly. She came to the hospital when she couldn't stand it anymore.
After a comprehensive examination, I found that Ms. Zhao's stomach problem was closely related to her habit of drinking black tea on an empty stomach. When the stomach is empty, there is no food in the stomach to buffer, and the ingredients in black tea will directly stimulate the gastric mucosa and promote the secretion of a large amount of gastric acid. Drinking black tea on an empty stomach for a long time like Ms. Zhao will increase the burden on the stomach, cause stomach discomfort, and may even induce gastritis, gastric ulcers and other diseases.
In order to protect our stomach, when drinking black tea, it is best to choose about 30 minutes after a meal. At this time, there is food in the stomach, which can play a certain buffering role, reduce excessive secretion of gastric acid, avoid irritation of the stomach, and keep us away from the trouble of stomach discomfort.
Finally, let's talk about the problem of too strong black tea. Black tea contains a lot of tannic acid, which will inhibit our body's absorption of iron under certain circumstances, especially the absorption of non-heme iron. Iron is essential for our health, especially for women and some patients who are already anemic. If they are iron deficient, the symptoms of anemia will only become more and more serious.
I had a patient named Ms. Li before. She has been anemic for a long time and often feels weak and tired. Ms. Li has a habit of drinking a cup of strong black tea every time she eats. She thinks this can help digestion. But she doesn't know that the black tea she drinks is too strong and she drinks it frequently, which leads to a decrease in her body's ability to absorb iron. Over time, the symptoms of anemia not only did not improve, but became more serious.
Therefore, for friends with anemia symptoms, when drinking black tea, the concentration must not be too high, and it is healthier to drink it a little lighter. Moreover, it is best not to drink black tea immediately before or after a meal, but to drink it after a period of time, which is more conducive to the absorption of iron and also helps to improve the anemia condition.
Although drinking black tea has many benefits, if you don't pay attention to these details, it may bring health risks to the body. I hope everyone can pay attention to it, control the amount of drinking, pay attention to the interval between medication, choose the right time to drink tea, and brew black tea with an appropriate concentration. In this way, we can fully enjoy the wonderful taste and health benefits of black tea and keep our body healthy.
