Tea

[Factoid]

Hello people,
This might be a silly 101 question but I just wanted to know what the raw stance on tea is. I usually drink loads of green tea - which is hot. I just wanted to know whether I am getting that many nutrients from it and whether it is causing any other damage.

[annavon]

While tea is not raw, I think that there are some people on raw that drink herbal tea and green tea. I still drink green tea. I try to make green sun tea when I can. It is hot where I live, so I don't really care if the tea is hot.

[Thick]

I personally consider tea in the category of condiments and drink it a lot. But green tea has caffeine, which many would avoid because it is overstimulating to your adrenal glands.

It takes your kidneys 24 hours to process the caffeine that is in one cup of coffee(or so I read). So, maybe it's better to switch to a nutritious caffeine free tea to free your kidneys to process other things.

[pixie_333]

Hello people,
This might be a silly 101 question but I just wanted to know what the raw stance on tea is. I usually drink loads of green tea - which is hot. I just wanted to know whether I am getting that many nutrients from it and whether it is causing any other damage.

anything cooked can throw your body off system and more strain to heal/be most vibrant while eating raw.
i wonder how much energy it takes out of our bodies eating/drinking hot things... i know it takes a lot with cold items including cold water. it does other stuff too.. i forget now.

nurtiants being a concern... you can find the same nutrients in tea in something else. i consider drinking boiled tea the same benefits as eating boiled veggies.
personaly until proven wrong... i find making sun tea ok. however i sometimes get images of people frying eggs outside with just the sun when i think about that. ;)
but how about just drinking room temp tea? i've made lots of tea using warm tap water when i micro and stove wasn't available.

[iluvmangos]

The raw stance on tea is that it's not raw. :)

I avoid caffeine so I wouldn't drink green tea. Last winter, I had some herbal teas to warm me up. I might use them again this winter if I think I need 'em.

[Nymue]

I went from a 12 year affair with coffee to drinking herbal tea in the mornings (just 1 cup). It's not raw, regardless of the temperature, but it keeps me from drinking caffeine. And it still lets me have my hot beverage ritual in the mornings. :D

[pixie_333]

I went from a 12 year affair with coffee to drinking herbal tea in the mornings (just 1 cup). It's not raw, regardless of the temperature, but it keeps me from drinking caffeine. And it still lets me have my hot beverage ritual in the mornings. :D

so are all or most tea herbs cooked before it's sold?

i'm not much of a tea drinker, but i have had freshly picked herbs dried and made into tea from boiled water.. but i know first hand with tea packets that warm water can get some of the taste so i'm still not convinced here that tea is cooked unless boiled or heated above a certain temp.

btw.. someone mentioned something about making a raw coffee with coffee beans here recently. and there's a raw "coffee" recipe that is raved about. i haven't made it since it has loads of ingrediants and i'm too cheap to buy it just for a drink. :D

[Eva]

Don't tell the raw food police, but I drink HOT tea when I meet friends for "coffee" or if my mom is kind enough to make a pot and share it.

I do stay away from anything with caffeine, including green tea. But that's just my personal preference.

:)

[iluvmangos]

Don't tell the raw food police, but I drink HOT tea when I meet friends for "coffee" or if my mom is kind enough to make a pot and share it.


Uh oh! I hear sirens! RUN, EVA! RUN!

[Nymue]

so are all or most tea herbs cooked before it's sold?

Hi Pixie. Yeah, I read somewhere (not sure if it was a book or website), that all teas are heat processed. Maybe there are some exceptions. In any case, I wouldn't think it's a big deal, especially the herbal teas as they don't contain caffeine. I'm also thinking, is there really anything in it for your body to process? Does it take away from our enzyme stores? If so, I would think the effect would be minimal. Just my $.02 :D

[annavon]

Nymue you are correct. I just looked up how green tea is processed. It is steamed first and then put out to dry. I alway thought green tea was tea that was just dried and not cooked first. That said, what I read is that green tea is the last processed of all of the teas.

[pixie_333]

thanks for the responses Nymue and annavon. they probably do that for quicker packaging, incase of mold and other germs. i've wondered about powdered herb supplements in bottles if they are heated.. i assume they are but i haven't gotten to calling the companies yet.

i've never had any luck drinking teas for cold and flu and other things and i am very sensitive to things. i could never understand the rave. but i can get benefits just eating it of those i've tried.