CUTTING TRUTH

After water, tea is the most commonly consumed beverage in the world. In India, it's customary to offer a guest some tea before anything else; chai-naashta, cutting chai and masala chai are part of our everyday vocabulary. And yet, the ill-effects of tea are overlooked.

The most active alkaloid ingredient in tea is caffeine — an addictive drug that stimulates the central nervous system. Tannin, also found in tea, may increase the risk of nasal and oesophageal cancer.

The perk-up effects of tea are short-lived and followed by withdrawal symptoms such as lethargy, headaches and irritability.

Tea does not bode for your stomach either. It is known to slow down digestion and impedes the action of ptyalin, a digestive ferment of saliva which acts like cooked starch. Excessive tea consumption could also lead to gas formation and diarrhoea.

Women beware, tea could aggravate symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome. According to a research conducted under Dr Annette Rossignol, an associate professor of public health at Oregon University, women in China who drank between one to four cups a day were twice as likely to have Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) than those who didn't. Drinking eight cups of tea increased the PMS occurrence up to 10 times.

Incontinence

Too much tea could also lead to incontinence or frequent or urgent impulse to urinate. According to a recent study by St George's Hospital in London, caffeine could exert pressure on bladder by causing the muscles surrounding it to contract.

Experiments show that five cups of tea increases urine by 400 to 500 per cent in people vulnerable to kidney related ailments. This continued stimulation of kidneys by caffeine found in tea might damage them.

Tea also contains oxalate, over consumption of which can cause kidney damage. It is known to soak up free calcium and other minerals found in the body. It could also promote kidney stone formation.

Other ill-effects

The respiratory and cardiac muscles are stimulated by tea as coronary arteries get dilated resulting in the increase in the rate of blood flow. The quickening of respiration lowers levels of carbon dioxide and increases the heat production by 10 to 20 per cent.

Caffeine too is found in teas – instant teas have 35 to 50 mg of caffeine, while iced tea contains about 65 to 80 mg; brewed tea has the highest amount of caffeine – 110 mg!

Replacements

Have a cup of green tea instead, it has 50 per cent less caffeine (only 12 to 60 mg per 150 ml) and tannin. Flower teas such as jasmine also have very little caffeine content.

Herbal infusions such as tulsi, ginger, peppermint, chamomile and cranberry are even better. They are no caffeine and multiple health benefits.

  Legends of the brew 

It is said that one night, sage Bodhirama found it difficult to stay awake during his meditations and kept falling asleep again and again. Angry with himself, he tore off his eye-lashes and threw them near the tree he was meditating under. Those eyelashes grew into the first tea bush. And this is why tea has become one of the most important things for those who meditate or want to stay awake.