Raw Tea

[Gossy]

I'm a pretty avid tea drinker. Most of the teas I drink aren't steaming hot either - that ruins the leaves! So I'm wondering, is tea considered a raw drink? What about any brands of bottled teas?

And I know tea has properties that harm iron and calcium absorption, so I make sure to take a supp for those long after I drink my daily cup or two (and hopefully with my new raw diet I can cut the supps out too!), so no need to warn me about that ;)

[Revvell]

Do you know at what temp. the tea was dried at?

Nothing bottled is raw. I would question even those that claim to be because high heat is used in the bottling process to kill bacteria and maintain shelf life.

"....And I know tea has properties that harm iron and calcium absorption..." ...and what teas would these be?

[Gossy]

Hmm . . . I'll have to email the company I buy leaves from and find out if they know what temp they're dried at. What temp would be too high and make it "dead"?

I have to admit, I may be unable to give up my tea addiction . . . though I can definitely refrain from the bottles varieties and stick to my loose leave brands just fine.

"and what teas would these be?" - Maybe I'm thinking of something else, but I believe the high oxalate content of teas causes absorption problems for some vitamins and minerals. I've also had kidney stones before and been told to avoid things like tea with high oxalate levels. I know Wiki isn't always an amazing source but this article coincides with things I've read in numerous health magazines and heard from doctors

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tea

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

Brewed teas are certainly not raw. A lot of raw foodists still drink tea, but it's usually herbal tea, rooibos or yerba mate.
The fact is that teas usually needs to be brewed in hot water in order to release the herbal properties. And there's really very little macro nutrients in tea so you really don't need to worry about them being heated and damaging your body.
It's also possible to make raw teas, so called "sun tea". You simply let the tea sit in the sun for a few hours. But to make it truly raw you will need all raw ingredients of course.

I wouldn't recommend drinking teas with caffeine in them on a daily basis though. It is highly addictive and can be damage your health quite a lot. Not only physically but mentally.

I seriously don't think that you will have any problems giving up tea if you really want to. But that's the thing, you need to really want to.

[Gossy]

Hmm. You may be right. It may be the case that part of the reason I crave the teas I drink are because they have caffeine. WAY less than coffee, but still. And really, considering previous kidney stone issues, I *should* cut it out.

Tea is a huge routine for me though, and I think breaking the habit will be harder than the tea craving(s). I'm a total and 100% creature of habit. Of course, I am jumping into making some large dietary changes, breaking old habits, so maybe the time for tea will die too!

[Revvell]

"and what teas would these be?" - Maybe I'm thinking of something else, but I believe the high oxalate content of teas causes absorption problems for some vitamins and minerals.

What I was asking was if you're talking herbal (guessing not) or commercial (seems like). Knowing that, could have answered the question better.

[Maintime]

[QUOTE=SevenKindsOfCookie;607764] And there's really very little macro nutrients in tea so you really don't need to worry about them being heated and damaging your body.
QUOTE]

I don't know how true this statement is, but if I was an avid tea drinker I would research this. Being "raw" is good because most (if not all) of the cooked food out there is bad for the body. If brewed tea isn't harmfull, then I don't see why a cup of herbal (non-caffinated) tea would be bad.

Personally I make the sun tea (even before going raw) and I love it!

[Gossy]

I'm not sure how nutricious tea really is in the long run, but I am very careful not to over heat my leaves (we're talking loose leaf teas, herbals, roobios, black, green, everything, I often mix and match my leaves for blended flavors) because burning them is icky. And I guess in my mind I was thinking that leaves, dried, and then revitalized with some hot water, would be considered "raw" still. The warming effects of tea are also a big thing for me as I'm almost always freezing.

I realize that drinking tea might not really be like eating cooked foods. Tea might lack nutrients, but in the long run, not have the harmful toxic effects I'm trying to remove from my body that cooked foods have. I guess my post was an inquiry into whether or not tea is considered raw, or if there are certain brands that are better than others for raw/organicness, or if there are special prep methods to keep as many nutrients as there might be in tea, and keep it as raw as possible. In the end, I may still enjoy a cup (decaf of course) a day anyway - mostly because I'm not sure I see it being the huge harm to my system that cooked SAD foods are . . . but I was curious about some more experienced raw foodies takes on it :)

[Revvell]

If I were you and concerned about my health, I'd look up the long term effects of tannin and you're mistaken if you think leaves are dried at a level that leaves them raw before you pour hot water on them.

Thing is, when all is said and done, if most of your food program is raw, you're miles ahead of most everyone else.

[Milly16]

Kombucha is organic raw fermented tea its soo good. Synergy is one brand of it they have a ton of flavors.

[Gossy]

. . . and you're mistaken if you think leaves are dried at a level that leaves them raw before you pour hot water on them . . .

Thus my entire reason for posting . . . to find that out, because I didn't know.

[Gossy]

Kombucha is organic raw fermented tea its soo good. Synergy is one brand of it they have a ton of flavors.

Thanks Milly! I will look into that :) I would love to be able to keep tea in my diet, and have it be raw too!