When Good Tea Goes Bad - Avoid These Dangerous Herbal Tea Ingredients!
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Who doesn't like tea these days? Don't get us wrong, coffee still has a special place for itself in our hearts, but the world of mixing and matching different varieties of tea in order to get new and interesting healthful concoctions has its own captivating mystique to it. And, it's not like tea can ever do wrong - no matter what type of tea you drink, or how often you drink it, you're getting nothing but 100% health benefits, right?
Actually, we found out recently that isn't necessarily the case. Of course, everything in moderation can be safe to a certain degree. But when you over do it and mix the wrong types of tea together in the wrong combination, it can lead to some pretty disastrous side effects. Below, we're going to explore some of the most common side effects of "bad" tea, we'll help you identify certain types of people who need to be more careful with their tea choices than others, and we'll also provide some helpful suggestions for teas that you should be trying.
The Most Common Side Effects of "Bad" Tea
Drinking the wrong type of tea, or drinking too much of certain types of teas, can lead to some pretty unpleasant side effects. Some of them may even be downright dangerous - and not just for you. Drinking bad tea can:
- Wreak havoc on people who have caffeine sensitivities. If you have a caffeine sensitivity - or if you've ever had just one too many cups of coffee in a day - then you know firsthand how unpleasant the side effects of a caffeine overdose can be. They can range from the mild symptoms like Jitters, nervousness, sweating, and dizziness all the way up to Serious anxiety attacks, heart palpitations, and vomiting. IN rare cases, taking in too much caffeine can even lead to death. And, unfortunately, tea is far less regulated when it comes to accurately displaying caffeine content on product labels. So it's especially important to be vigilant when it comes to certain types of green tea, black tea, and any herbal teas that are infused with guarana extract.
- Harm your baby. Whether you are currently expecting, whether you plan to become pregnant soon, or whether you are still breastfeeding a newborn, drinking the wrong kind of tea can harm you as well as your baby. In many cases, you may not even notice your own side effects - but because your child is so much smaller and still developing, their side effects will be magnified several times over. Make sure you talk to your doctor about all the supplements you're taking, including tea, just to make sure that there aren't any contraindications. Ginger root, fennel, and rhubarb leaves are all on the "avoid during pregnancy" list, according to most doctors.
- Cause problems for your major organs. Your liver is particularly vulnerable. Rooibos tea, despite its generous antioxidant content, does have some plant compounds in the mix which have been known to be hepatotoxic. But that's not the only culprit you have to watch out for. There are many different herbs which are common in teas today that, despite their intended function, actually harm your kidneys as well. Once again, we need to mention ginger root because of its connection to kidney stone formation. The bioactive compounds in ginger root have a habit of increasing uric acid levels in the blood, which can lead to kidney stone formation as well as gout.
- Cause hormonal Imbalances. There are many things in the world today which are upsetting the delicate balance of hormones in both the male and female body, including leaching plastics, pollution, and rooibos tea. Yes, that's right, rooibos made this list a second time because of scientific studies which show how it can stimulate excess estrogen production in both men and women. And yes, this can be a problem for women, too - especially women who are at risk for or who are in remission from certain types of female cancers.
Ingredients to Look For
We know, we know - we probably scared you away from tea for life, right? Well, that actually was not our intention. In order to give you a bad tea palate cleanser, we want to talk about some tea ingredients that can safely be added to your next kettle (and also provide you with wonderful health benefits).
Sencha green tea as a great alternative to most of the other highly caffeinated green teas out there. Because it is grown in direct sunlight, the leaves don't have the opportunity to produce as much caffeine. Plus, since sencha green tea powder is made with the entire leaf (instead of just parts of the leaf as is common in other powdered teas), you get healthy prebiotic fiber content as well as additional vitamins and nutrients.
Orange peel contains a similar prebiotic fiber called pectin. Not only does it taste great, but it keeps your gut healthy and helps you feel fuller between meals.
Lotus flower is not just a beautiful sounding tea, it's music to the ears of anyone who wants to lose weight. The lotus flower accomplishes this task in two ways. For starters, it has bioactive compounds which actively block absorption of fat and carbohydrates, effectively preventing you from developing new fat stores. Secondly, it encourages your body to create energy from burning stored fat, which can help you lose the weight you want to lose and preserve your lean muscle mass. If you mix it with some lemongrass, it'll help curb your hunger pangs so that you eat less between meals, too.
There you go. The world of tea isn't all doom and gloom. You just have to know which varieties to look for in order to the craft the perfect drink. And more importantly, you have to look at labels! Otherwise, you might end up drinking dangerous amounts of caffeine or unwanted, toxic plants.