Avoid Excess Tea Intake

[Texas Star]

Did you see on the Net about a week ago that a 56 year old man had serious kidney problems from drinking about 15 glasses a day of iced tea? Some chemical in the tea, also found in spinach, got him. They had to take him to dialysis, and the story wasn't clear if he'll need this from now on.

I mention this here especially because one of our members saw my post awhile back about Rooibos herbal tea and made up a whole pitcher. He felt funny for a day or so later,and may have been lucky not to have incurred any problems, otherwise. Rooibos (red bush) is an HERBAL infusion, not normal tea, Camellia sinensis. DO NOT use herbal teas casually. One or two cups is all I've drunk at once. Our member is a very tall, heavy man. If smaller, that dose might have affected him more.

I typically drink 2-5 cups of normal tea a day, but this seems okay, even with spinach in a meal the same day. I am fond of spinach, contrary to many men. I never exceed two cups of HERBAL "tea."

Besides Rooibos, I drink another South African HERBAL "tea" called Honeybush with Mandarin, from Twining's. Offer some to your lady, too. She'll love the delightful bouquet. These herbal teas are said to aid respiration and have other medicinal qualities. See Wikipedia, etc. for more info.

The early Dutch settlers in South Africa began using Rooibos to make a "tea" because supply ships from Holland and the Dutch East Indies were far between and real tea was then expensive. We're talking about the 1650's and maybe a hundred or more years beyond. Cape Town/Kaap Stadt was founded in 1652.

Tea is good for you in moderation, but I guess anything can be taken to excess, and I know that many in the South do drink a lot of iced tea in summer. Warn your friends who do that. A pitcher or two a day is too much. It may cause renal system failure.

 

[Arik]

That guy's story was one of a kind. I read it. Seems like most people just get kidney stones but he somehow got kidney failure.

 

[the ringo kid]

Im about the same as you are in tea consumption. I only use Splenda for sweetener. Splenda is the only sweetner that will not make you gain any weight if your watching it like I am.

Ive been a heavy tea drinker since I can remember.

Ill end with,and they said eggs were bad for you,then they were good, then bad, then good..............................

 

[GatorFarmer]

Try giving some Splenda mixed with sugar to ants, then watch to see if they die. Most artificial sweeteners kill ants off, particularly aspartame. Do you want to drink that?

Honey or regular cane sugar or put in a juice infusion...

In SC, thanks to Sonic drink specials, I drank as much as a gallon of tea a day during the summers. I noticed no particular ill effect. However, a gallon or more of various flavored slush makes for strangely colored bowel movements.

Though for safety reasons, perhaps it would be best to drink only teas of the Long Island variety....Made properly, these are self sterilizing, and if garnished with fruit doubtless count as a health drink.

 

[the ringo kid]

Tea is also good as a laxative--I know--happens to me often.

 

[BearBio]

I have to say I have no problems and likely drink a dozen glasses a day, every day. I switched when I was diagnosed diabetic about 20 years ago. Unsweetened tea and un sweetened coffee. An occasional beer (I say when my doctor told me to lay-off the beer, my beer budget didn't change==I just drink the better stuff less)

 

[THE PILGRIM]

You guys are serious tea drinkers!
My coffee roaster sells loose tea and I have tried some African red stuff.
I guess I don't really know exactly which one it was, but I only had a cup or two at a time.

 

[ATF]

Good news I'll stick with Scotch.

 

[soFlaNative]

Rarely drink tea, pinky finger gets tired.

 

[S&W ucla]

I saw the story and because I drink a lot of tea tried to read it carefully. Nothing I read said whether or not it was Sweet tea or unsweetened. Most sweet tea is made far too sweet for me. One article mentioned he was pre-diabetic. Maybe other factors, but as usual the media blows the trumpet loudly without knowing all the facts. My old chemistry teacher had it right, "Everything is poison, it's the dosage that gets you."

 

[Wyatt p. Tato]

Tea is also good as a laxative--I know--happens to me often.

It is not the tea it is the artificial sweetener. Bad stuff.

 

[walnutred]

I drink about a gallon of unsweetened tea a day and have every since I stopped drinking a gallon and a half of coffee a day. The coffee was starting to affect me. Though I've been told the tea I drink is on the strong side.

 

[GaryS]

Try giving some Splenda mixed with sugar to ants, then watch to see if they die. Most artificial sweeteners kill ants off, particularly aspartame. Do you want to drink that?

I'd be very worried... if I were an ant. Different creatures have different metabolic systems. Dogs can't eat chocolate, or shouldn't.

Which means that something that is bad for one creature won't be for another.

 

[rwsmith]

Southern boy.....

When I was younger I drank a LOT of iced tea but it was usually Lipton. My Mom made it a strange way (It wasn't ready until it boiled over onto the stove) but people always raved about her tea. These days I couldn't handle the teacup of sugar she put in every pitcher.

 

[labworm]

I have been drinking 6 to 8 cups of hot tea a day for decades.

I say bull to the story.

But I do have problems with my pinky.

 

[4011]

Drink an ice cold Dr. Pepper and you don't have to worry about all this other stuff��

 

[Philadelphia Patriot]

I drink slightly sweetened iced tea at home, unsweetened iced tea when we go out to dinner, and lemonade all summer. I don't drink alcohol or soda, and I have 2 cups of coffee every day.

A world without iced tea is not something that would make me happy.

 

[GatorFarmer]

I'd be very worried... if I were an ant. Different creatures have different metabolic systems. Dogs can't eat chocolate, or shouldn't.

Which means that something that is bad for one creature won't be for another.

Which I could buy into that theory, save that I have yet to see ant poison not marked as dangerous to humans. "Bad for them, good for you!"

Of course what we need are a couple of giant South Carolina cockroaches, the kind that had to be killed with golf clubs and could swim through roach spray. Feed some to one of them and see if it dies.

 

[GaryS]

I have been drinking 6 to 8 cups of hot tea a day for decades.

I say bull to the story.

But I do have problems with my pinky.

 

[rolomac]

Kind of makes me think of Farley Mowat in his book "Never Cry Wolf". He was a naturalist who spent time literally living with a pack of wolves in Canada. He observed the wolves "marking their territory" and decided to do the same so brewed up pots of tea which he drank one after another so he had enough pee to "mark his territory." It worked and the wolves respected his territory. It's a great book and highly recommended.

rolomac