Choosing the Right Tea for Your Constitution: Hot or Cold?

Tea is a well-known health and wellness beverage. Different types of tea have different properties, either cooling or warming, and our bodies also have different types, either hot or cold. Therefore, we should choose tea based on our own constitution. People with a hot constitution should drink cooling teas, such as black tea, while those with a cold constitution should drink warming teas, such as green tea.

[Hot Constitution]

Symptoms: Often feel very thirsty, but drinking water has a good effect and immediately relieves the thirst. People with a hot constitution are particularly sensitive to heat, enjoy eating cold foods, and have dry and hard stools. Traditional Chinese medicine often uses cooling herbs to regulate their constitution.

Tea Recommendation: Take 5 grams of dendrobium and boil it in water for 15 minutes, until it becomes a tea drink of about 500 ml. This is the suggested daily intake. If you want to enhance the cooling effect, after boiling the dendrobium, add 1.5 grams of peppermint and 3 grams of chrysanthemum, continue boiling for 10 minutes for a better effect. The taste of the tea will also have a slight cooling sensation.

[Cold Constitution]

Symptoms: Unlike those with a hot constitution who are relieved by drinking water, people with a cold constitution often have a dry and parched mouth but do not feel like drinking water. They may experience bloating after drinking water and often have symptoms such as feeling cold, aversion to cold, cold hands and feet, and diarrhea after eating cold foods. Traditional Chinese medicine treats this type of constitution by warming and dispersing cold.

Tea Recommendation: The simplest tea to dispel cold is ginger tea. Slice 1 or 2 pieces of ginger and put them in 500 ml of cold water. Boil and then simmer, without adding sugar. Let it cool and then drink. If you find the taste monotonous, occasionally add 1 or 2 slices of ginger when brewing black tea, without sugar. This is also acceptable. If you don't want to drink ginger tea, you can cook ginger in your meals to dispel cold.

[Yin Deficiency Constitution]

Symptoms: Severe dryness of the mouth, especially at night, often accompanied by restlessness and irritability. The tongue and lips are usually red, and patients are usually thin. The principle of traditional Chinese medicine treatment is to nourish yin.

Tea Recommendation: Take 9 grams of Adenophora root and 9 grams of Ophiopogon root, boil them in water to make a tea drink of 300 to 500 ml. Drink one cup a day. If it is the season for mulberries and you can get fresh mulberries, you can add a small amount to the above herbs when boiling. Mulberries are rich in water and gelatin, making them excellent for nourishing kidney yin.

[Qi Deficiency Constitution]

Symptoms: In addition to dry mouth, patients also experience easy fatigue, sweating with any movement, dizziness, pale complexion, and a swollen head. Treatment at this time should focus on supplementing qi.

Tea Recommendation: Take 15 grams of astragalus root, 15 grams of codonopsis root, and 9 grams of red dates, boil them in water to make a tea drink of 300 to 500 ml. Drink one cup a day. This tea can invigorate the body's qi, regulate the circulation of qi and blood, and help relieve thirst.

Tea can reduce blood viscosity, prevent blood clot formation, reduce the permeability and fragility of capillaries, lower serum cholesterol, and increase high-density lipoprotein. It has a preventive effect on cardiovascular diseases and also has anti-aging and immune-enhancing effects. Drinking tea can make people feel excited and can have various effects such as strengthening the heart, diuresis, astringency, sterilization, and anti-inflammatory. Long-term consumption of tea can eliminate fatigue and enhance memory.

Friendly reminder: It is best to drink black tea at night. Green tea has a higher content of tea polyphenols, which are more stimulating and can affect sleep. Although black tea has less tea polyphenols and is less stimulating, it is more gentle and suitable for evening consumption. Especially for people with weak spleen and stomach, adding milk to black tea can have a warming effect on the stomach.