MINDBLOWING DATA showing how TEA may Improve Your Health

[@MeiLeaf]

17. Shi Mengyuan , Cao Limin , Liu Huiyuan , Zhou Yuhan , Zhao Yuhong , Xia Yang . Association Between Tea Drinking and Cognitive Disorders in Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience vol14 2022 18. Ma, P., Huang, C., Cui, Y., Yang, J., Sun, K., Chen, X., & Li, H. (2016). Meta-Analysis of the Association between Tea Intake and the Risk of Cognitive Disorders. PLOS ONE, 11(11), e0165861. 19. Bond T, Derbyshire E. Tea Compounds and the Gut Microbiome: Findings from Trials and Mechanistic Studies. Nutrients. 2019 Oct 3;11(10):2364. doi: 10.3390/nu11102364. PMID: 31623411; PMCID: PMC6835862. 20. Shen CL, Yeh JK, Cao JJ, Wang JS. Green tea and bone metabolism. Nutr Res. 2009 Jul;29(7):437-56. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2009.06.008. Erratum in: Nutr Res. 2009 Sep;29(9):684. PMID: 19700031; PMCID: PMC2754215. 21. Inoue-Choi M, Ramirez Y, Cornelis MC, Berrington de González A, Freedman ND, Loftfield E. Tea Consumption and All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in the UK Biobank : A Prospective Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med. 2022 Sep;175(9):1201-1211. doi: 10.7326/M22-0041. Epub 2022 Aug 30. Erratum in: Ann Intern Med. 2023 Jun;176(6):882. doi: 10.7326/L23-0138. PMID: 36037472; PMCID: PMC10623338.

[@Jjjj70045]

Hi Don, I’m a 3rd year medical student in the US and just wanted to say kudos in doing such a good job with this video, citing the highest quality of evidence (meta-analyses and systematic reviews) and touching upon the crucial but severely underlooked role of lifestyle in health. There are some cool studies out there like RCTs showing Pu’erh’s positive effective on blood cholesterol and lipids - it would be cool if you invited a MD or PhD on to talk more about those studies over a gongfu session, I think a session exploring scientific literacy made accessible to a large audience would be neat! Cheers from NYC.

[@craigmckissick8840]

Good tea, good music, good literature, good exercise, good life!

[@jasonblack4208]

I love hearing you have more passionate opinions about government. It's always enjoyable when the normally mild mannered people finally let rip with a stronger opinion.

[@angelgalindo5740]

THIS is why I got into tea again! Wu mountain tea got me hooked on the science behind tea, so I always love hearing more about tea!

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

LOVE your point that the distinction between 'food' and 'medicine' is definitionally ridiculous. All things we put in our bodies effects our health.

[@Cletus_the_Elder]

I find it remarkable that my body responds so differently from the different types of teas. I get stamina in the body with oolong, to the point I have to drink cautiously into the late hours of the morning or I will have a difficult time coming down to restfulness at bedtime. Black tea nudges me toward wakefulness in mind quickly with its easy to access caffeine. Longjing with its nutty ichor feels most like an elixir to me. It gives me a focus that feels like parts of my mind aligning for tasks. These are wonderful plants. The one downside may be the oxalates in black tea, and when I get carried away with the leaves in the pot, and drink pot after pot, I will feel it in my joints. As with all things, restraint is a good thing.

[@jeffrey5602]

For me it’s the day drinking diva sheng puer that really gets me on fire for work tasks. I am still unsure which is best for the evening. Any thoughts? :)

[@Cletus_the_Elder]

@@jeffrey5602 My body responds well to caffeine so I stick to herbals in the evening. I used to pshaw chamomile "tea" but the research supports its benefits, especially with its high apigenin content. Herbals just don't taste very good to me, so I stick with the healthful ones: stinging nettle, sage, moringa, along with chamomile.

[@duduloureiro]

What I like the most about your approach to tea is precisely your objectiveness about its characteristics and richness in tastes. Because the health capabilities are what most people talk about only. In Brazil we can relate it with the milenar indigenous technologies based in herbs and nature, which indeed have impact for conditions and diseases, but people tend to take this to tea which I think is too much. This and the spiritual relationship with it, that to be honest I have no patience. So, congrats for your approach, I really enjoy your content.

[@nanalaura123]

I love how level-headed this presentation is. I imagine it is not easy to keep calm about the things you love, so thank you! My only concern remains the caffeine intake. I am caffeine sensitive, and when I drink as much as I want, I get affected in some ways, like bladder problems and sleep disruption. I have been drinking good tea for over twenty years and hope to drink for many more, but a balance is needed for sure.

[@Ratouschnikova]

Thank you very much for uploading this video. I love your content ❣ But maybe it´s worth to mention: If lemon juice is added to black tea, the iron reducing properties can be reversed (almost completely) Or alternatively one may eat a meal, containing fresh lemon juice, i guess :)

[@meitnerium5691]

i especially find your point about how quality of tea and brewing style affect health benefits intriguing. with how many tea dust bagged teas are out there, i don't even want to think about the amounts of pesticides, fungicides and heavy metals people may be ingesting. on the other hand - good quality tea which is "organic" and "true tea" - how much better is it for us? great video with some great points. also, props on the many, HQ citations!

[@joeybidner]

Love this series

[@ReneeMiller1]

Wonderful video, Don. You are amazing in your passion for and knowledge of tea. And, in this video you showed your facility in a difficult and controversial subject. Kudos for all the thorough research you have done and for sharing so excellently the research findings of evidence-based studies. Thank you!!

[@desertfox432]

TCM perspective next please. Not all teas are cool, not all teas are bitter. As a matter of fact I was just looking at one of your cake wrappers and thought in addition to your SCOPE, it would be awesome is you also added a Cool/Warm Bitter/Sweet Neutral metrics. If anyone should be doing this it's you. A complex subject like this might turn into a series.

[@stephantrommsdorf5176]

Beautiful Gaiwan!

[@senescence57]

OK, but which tea has Don and Celine aging backwards? 🕵🏾‍♂️👀

[@beth.7]

😂 - Probably the ones that they are drinking in the future while we are watching from the present, like the White Peony 2024.

[@matuspekar5159]

Food + not smoking/drinking is the only way to stay young until you die. Check out WFPB 😊

[@pepperpig649]

Amazing video! But I have to ask, how do I know if the tea I’m consuming doesn’t contain excessive heavy metals?

[@xiaodingjones1554]

You don’t. However, I have read that letting your tea steep for extended periods, like hours, make the problem worse. So brew fresh leaves, every time.

[@donaldkwan1955]

In germany few sellers test their tea and let you see the test results

[@tedsmith9580]

Thanks sooo much Don🙏🏻

[@stevenwalker2634]

Hi, Don, thank you. I began drinking good tea years ago to improve my microbiome and thereby reduce the inflammatory problems of the multiple autoimmune conditions I have. I have no doubt that drinking tea has made it easier to live with the conditions. So, what’s a cup? Teaheads don’t drink tea in eight oz cups. We drink tea measured in small brewing vessels and consumed in little tea cups. I usually go thru most of a liter of water in a tea session. Does that mean I’ve had four cups, 32oz, of tea? And what about extraction? I brew tea strong and sometimes I pack it and brew hot, like you, so does one portion of that tea equal three or more portions of “normally” brewed tea? Sure feels like it. I can’t answer these questions, but I’ve settled on using my judgement based on type of tea, my experience with the tea, tea to water ratios and water temp, time on the leaf, and my common practice of four to 12 small pots/gai wans of tea per day. I assume that puts me in the therapeutic range of the research findings. Still, I wish the research would be clear about brewing methods and volume standards so outcomes could be better understood.

[@iamagreek8388]

Bravo, thank you, cheers

[@mattlm64]

There is a risk with observational studies that there are confounders that are not controlled for, so it's best to look at the RCTs. Observational studies can be used to discover possible causal links, but follow-up studies are needed to evaluate the mechanisms and confirm causality through RCTs. It might be that healthier people tend to drink more tea, but it might not be the tea itself that leads to reduced risks.

[@joaofeiteira6309]

I was thinking about this too. I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the video.

[@beth.7]

@@joaofeiteira6309 It was. Around 11:00. Not exactly RCTs, but umbrella analysis of studies.

[@mattlm64]

@@joaofeiteira6309 Not that I heard, though there were a few studies that did use RCTs such as the ones regarding blood pressure and cholesterol. I've not looked into those myself. Most of the studies were observational which are subject to confounding variables. Whilst they are interesting, it's dangerous to draw conclusions from them without closer evaluation of the mechanisms and confirmation with RCTs where possible.

[@zeideerskine3462]

Tea can be enjoyed in ceremonies involving beautiful nontoxic ceramics. The overall beauty and the quiet ceremony also contribute greatly to health benefit of tea.

[@blaurobe]

Iron deficiency is one of the most common deficiency diseases worldwide. People who suffer from iron deficiency usually have to pay special attention to their diet. This also includes the renunciation of tea because of the tannin (green tea, sheng puer, etc.). Women and vegans have to be especially careful. Shou Puer or Libao contain almost no tannin.

[@Laura-je2uw]

You just have to be careful if you eat and drink tea at the same time, otherwise there is no real issue.

[@hristovalchev3689]

Thank you for the video! I haven't looked into the studies, but I am wondering about the extent to which they can control for things like diet and exercise, because it seems reasonable to assume that tea drinkers in general have a more healthy lifestyle.

[@MeiLeaf]

The many different studies had various different methods of controlling for such variations but this will always be an issue for long period, observational studies which take place outside of tightly monitored conditions although any short term and 'lab condition' studies would also come with their own shortcomings.

[@factotum6245]

One main problem with a lot of Food-Health studies is that they often don't (fully) control for socio-economic conditions. Are you healthier because you eat/drink X or are you healthier because you are well educated and have the leisure to do more sport and look after your health, and that just corelates with certain foods and drinks? This is why you want to understand the mechanism how those components work in the body before making any strong claims.

[@factotum6245]

This gets complicated very fast. To stay with the tea example. The tea replaces an unhealthy softdrink in your diet. Are you now healthier because you are drinking tea or because you are not drinking that softdrink? What are the health benefits of taking a short break and preparing & drinking any hot beverage? I am not saying the studies that we have are in any way bad. Tea seems to be associated with a healthy diet. So much we can tell. So cheers.

[@beth.7]

I think, that's why Don refers to meta-analysis and umbrella reviews vs. individual studies from 11:00 onwards. Life-style and genetic predispositions will of course always play into any individual study. That much is true, I thought so myself. But the hope is, that the filter of the anlytic approaches to those studies lends them more objectivity.

[@beth.7]

@@factotum6245 Yes, and I bet nothing will get your blood pressure down better than to step back, sit down and have a cup of tea. The British will tell you anytime. 😁🫖🍵

[@farmshedharvest9225]

Hi Don. What was a "cup" quantified as in terms of volume in these studies? Like you, I brew Gong Fu Cha or Chaozhou style, and drink cups that average somewhere around 110-120 ml or 4 ounces per cup. I assume Western style tea brewing served in more traditional cups averages around 150 ml/cup, and in a mug averages around 250-350 ml/cup. In terms of total tea consumption, accordingly, and the related health benefits, cup size matters.

[@MeiLeaf]

@@farmshedharvest9225 most reports did not specify but my assumption would be western style 250-300ml

[@ollymounara605]

I've taken l-theanine and ecgc as well. I love tea but cant alway handle the caffeine or rather teaeine. Once I had a headache that wouldn't subside. It was a light concussion. Painkillers didn't help at all and for some reason I decided to try l-theanine and it relieved the headache quickly. After a few days of taking it my head was doing much better. Also I came across a doctor mentioning earl grey and another specific tea to work on angiogenisis in cancer I think it was.

[@andrewshippy6623]

Thank you, Don. I love this series. But, now we need to know when you're going to release the White Peony 2024!!!

[@jsclassical]

Either tea makes people healthier, or healthier people drink tea

[@thekman707]

where do you buy your shirts? I always notice you have that brand and they look nice, I want one hahaha. Also thank you for sharing your insight into tea online. I have found many amazing tea houses where I live in Portland because of you. I feel way more healthy and actually don't need to take any "western" medication anymore because of tea. It just works for me and my mental health :)

[@yunussaid9288]

The brand is called Farah

[@chi_bot8648]

Superrr TEA

[@joeybidner]

Most of the studies were for green tea, does simmilar results translate for puer?

[@Mandragara]

Young puer is similar to green tea so I imagine yes

[@shavitsapozhnikov1050]

When they say "4 cup a day," they speak about mugs not 40 ml gong fu tea cups I guess😂😅... I would be thankful for a clearification on that!

[@TheRisingPhoenixPerfumery]

Should tackle the Chinese Medicine benefits of tea and bypass the Western Medicine speak altogether. You know a guy that could help 😉

[@omegand.]

The problem is that all these are just observational studies, tea drinkers are generally just lead more healthier lifestyles and that's it really.

[@jonellel795]

🫖

[@chenlee2190]

Talking too much! Straight to the point would you? If it’s good it’s good!

[@kilgoretrout413]

Entirely delicious *and* good for you 🥹🥲🥹🥲

[@kilgoretrout413]

Entirely delicious *and* good for you 🥹🥲🥹🥲