Green Tea: Your thoughts?

[Ribble]

I used to work at a hospital in an LDS community. One night while working, that powerful sleepy feeling, that all night workers know about, started to descend upon me. I went down to the cafeteria and purchased some green tea to give me the strength to push on. The funny thing, a fellow LDS member, co-worker and friend of mine, saw me with my green tea in my hand and his jaw literally dropped. All this, mind you, while he is holding a "52 ounce diet Dr Pepper!!!" )

Thinking that I was on the strait and narrow path to Hell, he started to counsel me on my beverage choice. I responded that green tea has been proven to be a benefit to health in numerous studies,and besides, the caffeine content of your "52 ouncer" greatly surpasses the modest caffeine levels of my 12 ounce tea. Not to mention the artificial sweetners, colors, chemicals, etc, that abound in diet soft drinks.

I've heard from some members that Bishops will vary about the acceptability of green tea. For me, I've researched enough to conclude that it is one of the healthiest drinks out there, and it makes no sense to abstain. I've long since replaced diet soft drinks with green tea and honestly feel much better for it. I don't even add sugar, just lemon, and have on average 3 a week.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject?

[investigator]

Green tea is made from the same tea leaf as black tea. If it is not against the word of wisdom there are about 150000 Japanese saints who will be happy to know that as green tea is a big part of the Japanese culture and the church teaches there that it is against the wow.

[britjas]

All true teas—as distinct from herbal and flower infusions, which afficiandos call tisanes, are made from the leaves of an evergreen tree with the botanical name of Camellia sinensis. Although reaching a height of 30 feet in the wild, on tea plantations (called gardens or estates), the plant is kept as a shrub, constantly pruned to a height of about 3 feet to encourage new growth and for convenient picking...

Green tea is particularly rich in health-promoting flavonoids (which account for 30% of the dry weight of a leaf), including catechins and their derivatives. The most abundant catechin in green tea is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is thought to play a pivotal role in the green tea's anticancer and antioxidant effects. Catechins should be considered right alongside of the better-known antioxidants like vitamins E and C as potent free radical scavengers and health-supportive for this reason.

Most of the research showing the health benefits of green tea is based on the amount of green tea typically consumed in Asian countries—about 3 cups per day (which would provide 240-320 mg of polyphenols). Just one cup of green tea supplies 20-35 mg of EGCG, which has the highest antioxidant activity of all the green tea catechins.

Read on for many more health benefits: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... e&dbid=146" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[britjas]

Diet dr pepper
Nutritional Facts
Size: 20 Fl oz.

Amount Per Serving % Daily Value
Calories 0
Total Fat 0 g 0%
Sodium 100 mg 4%
Total Carbohydrates 0 g 0%
Protein 0 g


Ingredients
CARBONATED WATER, CARAMEL COLOR, ASPARTAME, PHOSPHORIC ACID, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, SODIUM BENZOATE (PRESERVATIVE), CAFFEINE


Now multiply all that junk which leaches your bones of nutrition and calcium by 2.3 times

Now which do you think is healthier?

imagesa-sip-of-soda_thumb.jpg (163.81 KiB) Viewed 16482 times

[Kaarno]

Here is my admittedly biased opinion. I am suffering from what what my Dr thinks my be MS, funniest thing in the world is that I know a nice tumbler of whiskey would sooth my symptoms much more effectively and probably more healthy than the 5 mg of Valium 4 times a day. Just saying. But I have not purchased the whiskey, and I have thrown out the the Valium. Some things are just meant to be suffered through.

[Rose Garden]

I didn't see it listed in D&C 89.

Kaarno, keep looking for solutions. I'm sure there's something natural that's not prohibited by the Word of Wisdom. I don't think anything is meant to just be suffered through without doing something about it.

[tmac]

Alcohol and tobacco may be used for medicinal purposes.

I have a good friend who is a coffee drinker. His standing statement is that one of the main (outward) differences between active Mormons (who purport to be be keeping all the commandments), and inactive Mormons who don't is simply the temperature of their caffeine. I.e., the theory is, if you drink it cold, there's nothing in the WOW prohibiting it, so many people do.

The last thing I want to do is develop any kind of addiction, but when I'm driving, if I start feeling sleepy, I sometimes buy green iced tea. And sometimes I put a little shot of Mt. Dew with it. It's nasty stuff, as far as I'm concerned, but seems to help keep me awake. My wife and kids say that they would rather see me drink a little iced tea than fall asleep while driving and kill myself. Of course I could also pull over and take a little nap -- which I sometimes do.

[Nan]

green tea is still tea and is still against the word of wisdom. A glass of wine is supposed to be healthy too.

[InfoWarrior82]

I used to work at a hospital in an LDS community. One night while working, that powerful sleepy feeling, that all night workers know about, started to descend upon me. I went down to the cafeteria and purchased some green tea to give me the strength to push on. The funny thing, a fellow LDS member, co-worker and friend of mine, saw me with my green tea in my hand and his jaw literally dropped. All this, mind you, while he is holding a "52 ounce diet Dr Pepper!!!" )

Thinking that I was on the strait and narrow path to Hell, he started to counsel me on my beverage choice. I responded that green tea has been proven to be a benefit to health in numerous studies,and besides, the caffeine content of your "52 ouncer" greatly surpasses the modest caffeine levels of my 12 ounce tea. Not to mention the artificial sweetners, colors, chemicals, etc, that abound in diet soft drinks.

I've heard from some members that Bishops will vary about the acceptability of green tea. For me, I've researched enough to conclude that it is one of the healthiest drinks out there, and it makes no sense to abstain. I've long since replaced diet soft drinks with green tea and honestly feel much better for it. I don't even add sugar, just lemon, and have on average 3 a week.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject?

This might be helpful: http://www.whatdomormonsbelieve.com/201 ... -question/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[buffalo_girl]

Caffeine In anything seems to become an addiction issue.

Although green tea appears to have some health benefits along with the caffeine amp, I am also concerned about the fluoride content of it. From what I've read, fluoride is NOT healthy.

Look into the use of Yerba Mate as a mild stimulant with real health benefits...

http://www.yerbamateassociation.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Modern science is shedding light on the many benefits of yerba mate, including its: robust nutrition profile; high level of antioxidants; balanced and sustained stimulation; boost to the immune system; ability to enhance mental clarity; effect in relieving allergy symptoms; role in weight management and elimination; and its relationship to help control or limit other common modern ailments including diabetes, poor circulation, cholesterol and halitosis.

Studies of Antioxidant Properties of Yerba Mate Yerba mate has significant antioxidant activity. In 2005, researchers at the University of Illinois at Champaign –Urbana analyzed 25 different kinds of yerba mate and found that mate contained higher levels of antioxidants than green tea and, and based on cellular studies, reported that there was a correlation between yerba mate’s polyphenol content, antioxidant capacity and human topoisomerase inhibition that may help prevent oral cancer.

Prior to this most recent research, researchers in 1995 published a study in Biochemical and Molecular Biology International in which they concluded that water extracts of yerba mate “were more potent antioxidants than either ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or butylated hydroxytoluene.” A few years later, a group of researchers embarked on a study to again investigate the antioxidant properties of Ilex paraguariensis infusions. Those findings were published in March of 2000 in the Journal Biochemical and Biophysica Research Communications. Their results suggest “that ingestion of extracts of Ilex paraguariensis could contribute to an increase in the antioxidant defense of an organism against free radicals attack.” In a more recent study, published in the November 2001 issue of Fitoterapia, researchers took a look at seven different plant species in South America. They found that yerba mate “contained a higher content of flavonoids and caffeoyl derivatives than any other assayed species.”

Sustains Energy
Yerba mate is a central nervous system stimulant that provides a unique sustaining energy due to its complex combination of xanthine alkaloids including caffeine, theophylline (also found in green tea) and theobromine (the “euphoriant” also found in chocolate), as well as pantothenic acid - which prevents over-stimulation of the central nervous system. Yerba mate is also a rich source of magnesium, which has been proven to ease anxiety without over-stimulating.

[EmmaLee]

If caffeine was the only reason tea and coffee are banned per the WoW, then we should be able to drink decaffeinated coffee with no problem, but it is still banned. There are other substances besides the caffeine in tea and coffee which are far more unhealthy, and IMO, that's why they are listed in the "don't" part of the WoW. FWIW.

[mingano]

I always thought that green tea was an herb to be used with prudence and skill but people went to great lengths to demonstrate that I was wrong so I gave up.

[InfoWarrior82]

It's really about the tanic acids in tea and coffee. I'm not sure if that's included in green tea. Herbal teas are OK... so we just have to find out if green tea is considered an herbal tea.

[EmmaLee]

Yes, green tea and black tea both have tannin. Bad stuff. Far worse than caffeine, IMO, since tannin is a natural pesticide. Herbal teas do not contain tannin. Green tea is not considered an herbal tea.

[jcricket6048]

Yes, green tea and black tea both have tannin. Bad stuff. Far worse than caffeine, IMO, since tannin is a natural pesticide. Herbal teas do not contain tannin. Green tea is not considered an herbal tea.

Coffee has the chemical that embalms dead bodies but in D&C 89 says hot drinks which means coffee and tea it does not say the chemicals inside those drinks but just that and what it says is what it means so we do not need to go further in detail but just obey the word of wisdom.

[Deborah000]

About a year ago, I decided to try green tea. I rationalized that green tea was not black tea and the long list of health benefits seemed too good to pass up. I started with a cup in the afternoon in my classroom - then sometime I would have two, as the taste sweetened with honey was nice. I bought the decaffenated version so I thought I was drinking something not only harmless, but healthy.
In a few weeks i started noticing when I would go to bed at night, my heart would race and sometimes i felt an irregular heart beat, kind of a fluttering. At first i did not associate this with my new afternoon tea break. I started looking into causes of an irregular heartbeat, when the thought occured to me that the tea might be causeing the problem.
I immediately stopped drinking the tea and almost as quickly the nightly fluttering disappeared. Maybe I was just overly sensitive to the green tea, but for me I have decided to stay away from green tea. To date the heart problem has not returned.

[EmmaLee]

Yes, green tea and black tea both have tannin. Bad stuff. Far worse than caffeine, IMO, since tannin is a natural pesticide. Herbal teas do not contain tannin. Green tea is not considered an herbal tea.

Coffee has the chemical that embalms dead bodies but in D&C 89 says hot drinks which means coffee and tea it does not say the chemicals inside those drinks but just that and what it says is what it means so we do not need to go further in detail but just obey the word of wisdom.

I was answering someone's question, jcricket6048, if that's alright with you. You do what you need to do, and the rest of us will do what we need to do. Thank you.

And by the way, mushrooms, potatoes, pears, grapes, bananas, and a bunch of other good foods contain MORE naturally occuring formaldehyde than coffee beans - so yeah, it pays to know what you're talking about and it's a good idea to go into further detail, IMO. Ignorance is bliss for some, I guess.

[laronius]

Here is my admittedly biased opinion. I am suffering from what what my Dr thinks my be MS, funniest thing in the world is that I know a nice tumbler of whiskey would sooth my symptoms much more effectively and probably more healthy than the 5 mg of Valium 4 times a day. Just saying. But I have not purchased the whiskey, and I have thrown out the the Valium. Some things are just meant to be suffered through.

Kind of off the subject, but Kaarno you might want to look at these websites: http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/janie's_story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I recently spoke with a person who experienced MS symptoms for many years but once she had the fillings in her teeth replaced with non-mercury laced fillings all her symptoms went away. Kind of a shot in the dark, but who knows.

[JohnnyL]

I agree with jcricket6048. It's not about trying to figure out why a commandment was given and then act accordingly ("it's about the caffeine, it's about the tannins, it's about..., so if I just do this, then the commandment is canceled"), ("chastity is about pregnancy out of wedlock, so if I use protection, it will be ok") but to first obey in faith and patience, and then if you want, try to understand.

Most things have benefits, but at what cost? That's what most "scientific studies" ignore.

There are always excuses for anything. Once in a blue moon, it might be right?

There are plenty of other options, many natural and better, for what many drink green tea for. Yerba mate was one, there are many others. Search "'stay awake' 'natural alternative'" or such.

[keeprunning]

Green tea is the young tea plant, black tea is the mature tea plant, no? So, green tea is tea, which was clarified as hot drinks.

I've read that the tea plant is one of the worst plants for highly absorbing environmental toxins. Don't really need that. There may be special occasions that a person might benefit short term from coffee or tea for medicinal purposes.

[ask*seek*find]

When I served a mission in Austria in the early '90's, the discussions we used when teaching the Word of Wisdom in German said no alcohol, tobacco, black tea, or harmful drugs. We were also given a set of discussions in English, when first in the MTC, and the very same discussion on the Word of Wisdom said no alcohol, tobacco, or tea, or harmful drugs. (There was no mention of black tea specifically in those English discussions). I had never thought to compare what other discussions in other languages at the time said about the the details of the Word of Wisdom. I have never seen the newest German "discussions" to see what they say today.

[mingano]

When I served a mission in Austria in the early '90's, the discussions we used when teaching the Word of Wisdom in German said no alcohol, tobacco, black tea, or harmful drugs.

In my spanish speaking mission we taught the WoW as "no te negro o te chino" - black tea or chinese tea. I don't know exactly what "Chinese tea" is but everybody understood it down there.

[laronius]

Here is a website that I think does a pretty good job of addressing this issue: http://www.askgramps.org/is-green-tea-a ... of-wisdom/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To paraphrase, don't put your faith in science which changes with man's understanding. If it comes from the "tea" plant, then it is prohibited under the word of widsom.

[BroJones]

If caffeine was the only reason tea and coffee are banned per the WoW, then we should be able to drink decaffeinated coffee with no problem, but it is still banned. \\\.

I have heard that decaf coffee is OK, per the Church, but I don't have a reference for that. IIRC, this was important to my mother-in-law, a convert to the church.

Does anyone have a definitive statement? (NOT that I'm interested in decaf-coffee!)

[mingano]

On my mission we gave out a coffee substitute that was made from roasted corn. Many people said it tasted about the same.