what about green tea?

[veeg]

I've been raw for a bit, and during the first few weeks allowed myself the occasional coffee (sometimes with soymilk). I've successfully given up coffee...but I've been having some green tea and herbal tea, especially when there's a chill in the air. I guess that's not really raw, but I'm wondering what other rawvegans think.

Looking forward to feedback!

[Pailani]

I used it for the whole time I was almost raw and for the first couple weeks I was totally raw, and it was fine in that it didn't tempt me to stray from raw foods.

I did end up giving it up because I have an addiction to caffeine and I felt that I needed to cut it out completely - I'd cut back to a cup per day, but then I'd start relying on it to get me through periods of tiredness until I was drinking it like water. If I could keep a handle on my addiction, I'd have no problem using it on a raw diet.

Right now I drink peppermint tea, it's just peppermint leaves in boiling water. I have no problem with over-use creeping in because it doesn't offer me anything that I crave, like a jolt of caffeine. And while it may not be raw, it's not food and it doesn't tempt me or keep any cravings for cooked foods alive, so I have no guilt about using it. I don't add anything like whitener or sweetener to it.

[cornvalley]

Congratulations on giving up the coffee. That's a tough monkey to kick with all the addicts out there along with it's enormous availability and acceptance. While green tea is now touted as healthy with regards to antioxidant properties, it is still contains the neurotoxin caffeine. Mild by comparison it still must be dealt with in ways that 'takes away' from the homeostatic state of just plan old feeling good. When your tired....REST. When you've rested enough the effects of any amounts of caffeine or stimulating herb will steal from that and the net result will be a negative effect comesurate to the amount of initial excitation experienced. Water for thirst, food for nutrients. All else is just seems to be tinkering with substance effects on your mood. But that just me after years of keeping it simple.