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315996 tn?1429054229

Tea and thee

This is a 6-year old study that I've always kept around because it insuates that tea has a lot more going for it than coffee. I have the newspaper article and every once and a while I pull it out and copy it for a friend. Well, cleaning up all the papers on my kitchen table and ran into and was able to find the online version:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/21/health/main550409.shtml

And right here, some relevant stuff for our club and it's members, which I never looked at closely until I found out last year I had HCV:

To further test the finding, the researchers had 11 volunteers drink five cups a day of tea, and 10 others drink coffee. Before the test began, they drew blood samples from all 21 test subjects.

After four weeks, they took more blood from the tea drinkers and then exposed that blood to the bacteria called E-coli. Bukowski said the immune cells in the specimens secreted five times more interferon than did blood cells from the same subjects before the weeks of tea drinking. Blood tests and bacteria challenges showed there was no change in the interferon levels of the coffee drinkers, he said.

Bukowski said it may be possible to further isolate and refine L-theanine from tea and use that as a drug to boost the infection defense of the body.
18 Responses
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315996 tn?1429054229
no problem. I should have included a smiley face here ya go :)

scratch
Helpful - 0
541844 tn?1244309824
oops..my bad
Helpful - 0
315996 tn?1429054229
My health is great. Forgot what I had and the big picture and I pissed off everyone important at work. oh well.

springfever,
The article that starts this thread refers to the L-theanine in tea, not the antioxidants. We all know about the antioxidants.

Helpful - 0
190885 tn?1333025891
i quit coffee a year and a half ago and started drinking tea after watching a group of doc's on larry king saying that people that drink coffee die younger then thoughs that don't drink coffee..i think it was like 7 years or so..it was real tough\ for me to quit the coffee....the number one worst thing these doc's said was not getting enough sleep every night..7 to 8 hours..anyway...thanks for the info...hope your doing well these days.....billy
Helpful - 0
541844 tn?1244309824
BTW..Green tea has more caffeine than black tea.  I rinse it with just boiling water, pour that down the drain, and go for the 2nd and 3rd brew.
Helpful - 0
541844 tn?1244309824
Go for the green!  I learned a new word this week, 'catechin', from HR's old posts.  He recommended it as part of a liver regimen.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm
"Green tea is made from unfermented leaves and reportedly contains the highest concentration of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. Antioxidants are substances that scavenge free radicals .....Polyphenols contained in teas are classified as catechins. Green tea contains six primary catechin compounds: catechin, gallaogatechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and apigallocatechin gallate (also known as EGCG...


Seems its the green and white tea that are considered to have the most catechins.  Makes sense since (smile) green tea is minimally processed.  I like mine straight.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
If its not organic tea,its garbage.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You must have milk in tea!  I love tea, but only PG tips, a english tea! And some herbals, I love coffee also though, but limit myself to one  or cups a day.

I found a  old 2005 study pro coffee! gees, to show,  

sighs,

Helpful - 0
548668 tn?1394187222
I do remember something about milk in tea/coffee putting the drink in the 'hard to digest' category.

I tried it without milk but it wasn't the same.  These days I use soy milk but don't know whether it assists with digestion or absorption of tea.   Thanks for the input...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I hate to bring bad news but I have read that any kind of milk added to tea or coffee louses up the benefits.  I can't remember the particulars .
Jim posted something about milk wrecking the good in coffee a long time ago...something about the combo causing carcinogens.
If I remember correctly, the milk added to tea binds the very thing that causes the benefit .  I don't like milk in tea but I have added vanilla soy milk to coffee and it wasn't bad.
Hope to bring good news next time :>)
Ev
Helpful - 0
315996 tn?1429054229
I used to subscribe to National Geographic. Trying to whittle my subscriptions down these days so I can get through all the medhelp postings on HCV, not to mention all the political, financial, and valley girl cheerfulness postings. Don't quit, keep them coming please!
Helpful - 0
548668 tn?1394187222
Scratchinghead:
"I read it in a National Geographic magazine that was dedicated to caffeine."   OMG - were you searching in the library under "caffeine"?  I know some people take their coffee/tea seriously..   please share lol..

Meki:
Earl Gray ..mmm..  I used to like it occasionally, but some idiot at work kept putting it in the wrong container and after have 'Earl Gray' that many times when I didn't expect it, I kinda lost my taste for it.   (Sugar and cream is really nice with scones and jam though - mmmm Devonshire tea - with TEA!! - I haven't had it for years),   I will celebrate one day with a Devonshire tea in much the same way as I used to celebrate with champagne, and, for you Meki, I'll ask for Earl Gray!!!
Helpful - 0
217229 tn?1192762404
OK!!!

I'm an Earl Grey Freak...

I like coffee --- But Earl Grey and sugar and cream --- that's how I usually start my day!

Rock on

Meki
Helpful - 0
315996 tn?1429054229
Pretty sure black, green, and oolong tea come from the same plant, they are just cured differently. Go figure. I read it in a National Geographic magazine that was dedicated to caffeine.
Helpful - 0
548668 tn?1394187222
I gave up coffee some years ago,  but read somewhere that black tea can limit iron absorption so continued drinking it.   My Chinese Dr agreed when I told him but said it had to be "Chinese black tea" (?!)

Regardless, I loooooove black tea so thanks for the extra support in defence of this addiction of mine - I'll go and have another cuppa!!!
Helpful - 0
619930 tn?1260374254
"Have a Cuppa Tea"

- By Ray Davies of the Kinks -

"Granny's always ravin' and rantin',
And she's always puffin' and pantin',
And she's always screaming and shouting,
And she's always brewing up tea.

Grandpappy's never late for his dinner,
Cos he loves his leg of beef
And he washes it down with a brandy,
And a fresh made pot of tea.

Chorus:
Have a cuppa tea, have a cuppa tea,
have a cuppa tea, have a cuppa tea,
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, Rosie Lea
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, Rosie Lea.

If you feel a bit under the weather,
If you feel a little bit peeved,
Take granny's stand-by potion
For any old cough or wheeze.
It's a cure for hepatitis, it's a cure for chronic insomnia,
It's a cure for tonsillitis and for water on the knee.

Chorus

Tea in the morning, tea in the evening, tea at supper time,
You get tea when it's raining, tea when it's snowing,
Tea when the weather's fine.
You get tea as a mid-day stimulant
You get tea with your afternoon tea
For any old ailment or disease
For Christ sake have a cuppa tea.

Chorus

Whatever the situation, whatever the race or creed,
Tea knows no segregation, no class nor pedigree
It knows no motivations, no sect or organisation,
It knows no one religion,
Nor political belief."


Pilgrim
Helpful - 0
388154 tn?1306361691
thx scratch I´m getting closer to the finish now and are starting to get paranoid that i will relaps again.
Have decided to take lactoferrin and an expensive type of testosteron that is harmles regarding your own capability of producing testosteron after stopping taking supplement.

I did stopped with coffee for two weeks but started again, thx to you I´m gonna include that in my last 8 weeks of treatment (TEA instead of coffee) starting one week from now.

This I´m gonna continue with to at least 12weeks post tx.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I drink alot of tea...i keep china in business.
Helpful - 0
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