Incompatible Foods: How Certain Foods Can Turn Good Tea into Poison

Drinking tea is a very healthy way to take care of your health, but it is also important to be aware of the food that is incompatible with tea to avoid turning good tea into poison. So, which foods are incompatible with tea? Today, I will share with you some information about this.

　　【Incompatibility between Tea and Five Types of Food】

　　The term "tea medicine" appeared as early as the Tang Dynasty (as seen in the "Tea Medicine" written by Wang Guo in the 14th year of the Dali reign of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty). In the book "Shan Jia Qing Gong" written by Lin Hong in the Song Dynasty, it was also mentioned that "tea is a type of medicine". This shows that tea is considered a medicine and is recorded in ancient medical books. However, in modern times, the term "tea medicine" refers only to preparations that contain tea leaves.

　　Since tea has many benefits and can prevent and treat various diseases in different fields, it can be said that tea is not only a medicine but also, as emphasized by Chen Cangqi of the Tang Dynasty, "tea is a cure for all diseases".

　　When it comes to drinking tea, it is important to be aware of the incompatibility with certain foods. Let's take a look at some of the things to keep in mind.

　　1. Tea and White Sugar

　　Tea has a bitter and cold taste. People drink tea to stimulate the digestive glands and promote the secretion of digestive fluids to enhance digestion. Tea also has a cooling effect, which helps to clear heat and detoxify the body.

　　Adding sugar to tea will inhibit these functions. However, there are also recipes in ancient books that combine tea with white sugar for medicinal purposes. It is acceptable as a form of food therapy, but it is not recommended to add sugar to tea on a regular basis.

　　2. Tea and Eggs

　　Boiling eggs in tea water results in a high concentration of tea, which contains a large amount of tannic acid. Tannic acid can turn the protein in food into coagulated substances that are difficult to digest, affecting the absorption and utilization of protein in the body.

　　3. Tea and Alcohol

　　Many people like to drink tea after consuming alcohol, hoping to relieve dryness, aid digestion, and promote diuresis. However, this is not good for the kidneys. When tea is consumed after alcohol, the diuretic effect of tea alkaloids comes into play. At this time, acetaldehyde, which is produced during the breakdown of alcohol, has not been completely metabolized. As a result, the diuretic effect of tea alkaloids enters the kidneys, and acetaldehyde has a strong irritating effect on the kidneys, which can damage kidney function. This can lead to symptoms such as kidney coldness, frequent cloudy urine, and testicular pain.

　　4. Tea and Lamb

　　Although eating lamb regularly is beneficial for the body, when eating lamb and drinking tea together, the abundant protein in lamb can "combine" with the tannic acid in tea to form a substance called tannic protein. This substance has an astringent effect on the intestines, which can weaken intestinal peristalsis, reduce water content in feces, and easily lead to constipation.

　　Therefore, it is not recommended to drink tea while eating lamb. It is also not advisable to drink tea immediately after eating lamb. It is best to wait for 2-3 hours before drinking tea.

　　5. Tea and Medication

　　The tannic acid in tea can react chemically with certain medications (such as ferrous sulfate tablets, ammonioferric citrate, berberine, etc.) to form precipitates, affecting the absorption of medications.

　　If tea is consumed with sedatives (such as phenobarbital, diazepam, etc.), the stimulants such as caffeine and theobromine in tea can counteract or weaken the sedative effects of the medication. Since there are many types of medications and it is not easy to determine their compatibility with tea, it is best to take medications with warm water, which is beneficial and harmless.