Overindulgence in Tea can bring Repercussions
It is common knowledge that wine and other spirits containing alcohol can make a person inebriated, also commonly known as being “drunk”. What you might not know is that tea can also cause inebriation. If you drink too much strong tea, it can have repercussions on your body similar to drinking too much alcohol, for example you may be troubled by tinnitus (a persistent ringing in the ears), or experience dizziness and fatigue. If you overindulge in strong black teas, your stomach will also feel bloated and overfull, even if you haven't eaten and will cause nausea especially if you drink a lot of strong tea on an empty stomach. Serious cases of drinking too much strong tea at once can even cause dry heaving.
How Can Excessive Tea Drinking Cause Adverse Effects
There are many ways that tea can cause you to experience the side effects similar to those of being drunk or sick:
1. People who rarely drink tea are much more sensitive to the effects of tea, whether positive or negative, and strong tea can upset stomachs, especially if the tea drinker has digestive or stomach problems such as ulcers or acid reflux.
2. People who are used to drinking highly fermented teas such as black teas, Oolong teas, and Pu-erh teas can experience effects similar to those of alcohol when switching to a much lower fermented or non-fermented tea such as white and green teas.
3. Drinking tea on an empty stomach, especially stronger highly fermented teas, can cause you to feel drunk as well.
People are much more likely to feel drunk from drinking freshly pick tea leaves
Fresh tea leaves plucked off the first tea harvest of the tea growing season, early in the springtime is usually of the best quality and highest grade of tea. Because these teas have been stored for less than a month, they contain much higher levels of caffeine, active alkaloids and other aromatic substances than older teas do. This increase in chemicals can stimulate the central nervous system and stomach, which can cause one to feel inebriated.
How to Decrease the Chances of Tea Causing Adverse Effects While Drinking
Take Time To Enjoy Your Tea
Never get in a hurry when enjoying your tea. Part of the beauty and meditative quality that tea has is that it should be calming and soothing, never rushed or hurried. Use restraint to not taste fresh tea immediately after purchasing it. Instead, wait at least half an hour so that a good portion of
the polyphenols, aldehydes, and alcohols in the freshly picked leaves are oxidized. Once the levels of these chemicals are lower in the tea, it makes the tea much healthier for you to drink.
Try Not To Overindulge
Drinking too much tea, as with overindulgence of any kind, can bring negative consequences. Although tea is a very healthy drink with plenty of health benefits, if you drink more than 10g of tea daily, it can irritate the stomach and esophagus lining, especially if you drink hot tea, which can lead to ulcers, acid reflux, can increase the symptoms of GERD and IBS and can make you feel slightly intoxicated.
It is also a good idea to take your tea with a snack or a meal so that you have something to help absorb the tea in your stomach. Salty and sweet food can not only provide sodium for your body, but also cause your blood-sugar level to rise, making it less likely for you to experience any adverse effects from drinking your tea.
Tips For Drinking Tea Properly
To choose a proper time and keep drinking it, puerh tea will help you lose weight
Never drink tea on an empty stomach: If you drink tea on an empty stomach, you will not only dilute gastric juices so that you aren't as able to digest foods as well, but the high absorbency rate of water in the tea will also cause your body to absorb caffeine easily causing you to experience dizziness, stress and possibly even neurasthenia in your hands or feet.
Try to avoid drinking tea after a meal: Teas contain tannin, especially dark teas which contain higher levels of tannin, which can possibly react to iron in your food. However on the other hand, tea can also help to aide in digestion one hour after the meal, especially Pu-erh tea.
When you drink tea in the proper times in the proper amounts, tea can be the healthiest drink you can have for your body and mind, and you can enjoy the many benefits of tea by following the above healthy tea guidelines.