How much tea do you drink in a day?
So I never really realized before today just how much tea I drink in a day. The first thing I do every morning is make a cup of tea, in order to feel somewhat human. Then I get dressed, make another cup of tea and eat breakfast. Then I make another cup of tea to take with me to work or school, or where ever I am going. I’ll usually drink this before I get to where ever it is I’m going. Then I immediately make another cup of tea at work. And so on and so forth. I hadn’t ever really given it any thought before until a coworker remarked on how many cups of tea I had in a shift, and we started chatting about it. And she doesn’t even know about my morning tea, or the four or five cups I drink once I’m at home for the night! All in all I drink anywhere from 10 to 18 cups of tea a day -depending. And to me this doesn’t even seem like that much.
What about you? How much tea do you drink? Is there such a thing as too much tea? Do you drink tea more then anything else, or do you prefer to keep it special and have one or two amazing cups of tea a day to relax? What does your friends/family/significant other think of your tea drinking habits?
Yes there is such a thing as too much tea. If you do a quick discussion search it will bring up a bunch of threads. The biggest/scariest concern would be over consumption of fluoride – which is found in the tea as well as the water used to steep the tea – and can cause some very serious health problems. There are also some studies discussing lead in tea which could be a problem for pregnant women. Teas that contain caffeine can result in dehydration, similar to coffee. Too much tea could also result in “tea drunk” which is really not a health problem per se.
I drink around 1 litre per day of tea, more on weekends, and more in the summer when I drink a lot of cold tea. I also drink other things through the day such as milk, water, etc. I go by the general rule that you need 8- 8 oz glasses of water a day. Coffee, tea, pop, and alcohol don’t count. So for each cup of tea, you should be drinking a cup of water(or non caffeinated, non alcoholic beverage).
Everyone thinks I am addicted to tea, but that is about it. They just put up with it :) Some of them have come over to the tea-side.
I looked at the website for the fluoride/tea study. The really severe case of fluoride poisoning seems based on a woman who drank 100 cups, yes, 100 cups a day. Can you even imagine that much? I understand that too much fluoride is not a good idea but with most people using mixtures of tisanes, white, black and greens there doesn’t appear to be much danger… unless,of course, you are drinking 100 cups a day.
That you need to drink water to keep hydrated and nothing else is actually a myth. There have been multiple studies done that have shown the amount of caffeine present in tea does not have a significant impact on hydration, and therefore tea counts towards your daily fluid intake. Even soda has a net hydrating effect, but for other health reasons I’d recommend against drinking a lot of that! :P
And I’m with carol who about the concerns of fluoride intake. It’s something to be conscious of, but it’s actually really rare outside of poor areas of Asia. Cases of it in the developed world are basically limited to people who chronically consume enormous amounts of tea (ie. 100 servings a day). In poor areas of Asia it occurs in people who drink large amounts of cheap brick tea for years on end. So unless either of those scenarios sounds like you the fluoride thing really isn’t a concern. Flouride is more prominent in machine processed (CTC) tea and tea processed from very old leaves (cheap tea) so if you really are concerned about flourosis, use it as an excuse to spoil yourself and always buy good tea _
Although the fluoride concern would be a rare side effect in developed countries, I still think it could be a concern. It really depends on the water you are using to steep your tea. Most tap water, and even bottled water, contains fluoride. Green tea contains a large amount of fluoride. And we intake fluoride through other sources in our lives, think toothpaste. I think it is rare to have the same effect as could happen with the woman who drank 100 teabags a day, but it is still something to be aware of.
I also disagree with you on the hydration aspect. There are many studies that support that caffeine is dehydrating, that includes caffeine in tea and soda, etc. I think what that shows is there is no real consensus. So in my opinion, it is something to be aware of, and each person needs to be informed and make their own decisions based on lifestyle, health, etc. :)
I’ve yet to find a single reputable study (or any study at all for that matter) suggesting tea has a dehydrating effect. I’ve found research from 2000-2013 and all of it concludes that caffeine (even the amounts found in coffee) does not have a significant diuretic effect.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00726-006-0363-5
(2006). There is your one study. You need a pubmed account to access the whole article but the above link will give you the abstract and first 3 pages of the article. Essentially showing caffeine content up to approx. 240mg can cause dehydration. This study was done on energy drinks but also found that caffeine and not other factors was the cause of dehydration/increased urintation, therefore it is reasonable to assume that caffeine in other drinks may cause dehydration as well. The average cup of tea is about 50 mg (depending on a variety of factors). So that would be up to about 5 cups of tea. This discussion is much larger than a yes or not debate. I only want to point out that there is no definite answer. Each person just needs to educate themselves on the facts and make a decision for themselves. Dehyration also depends on a number of factors and not just one factor (such as caffeine). As a sidenote, I just found that the mayo health clinic recommends no more than 500 mg caffeine per day for healthy adults.
I think the most important thing is that everyone educate themselves with information from both sides so that they can make an informed decision for themselves. Everyone has different comfort levels so as long as you are properly informed you can make the best decision for yourself.
That study’s conclusion that because the caffeine was the offending substance means any beverage containing caffeine will have the same diuretic effect is provably wrong. Caffeine in high doses and in people who don’t regularly drink caffeine has been shown to have a significantly different impact than regular lower doses of caffeine. A study of energy drinks that incorrectly concluded other caffeinated beverages would have the same effect is not an equal counterpoint to the multitude of studies that actually looked at tea consumption and yielded opposing results.
http://advance.uconn.edu/2002/020722/02072207.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19774754
This is a great review of the numerous studies done.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/559762_2
All current research into chronic caffeine consumption similar to what the OP describes suggest no negative impact on hydration, and the overall amount of fluid consumed over the course of drinking that many cups of tea would actually make her significantly more hydrated than the average person.
I wouldn’t worry too much. If there is a dangerously high amount of fluoride in the water, straight water or tea would have the same effect. Get the water tested (some places will do this for free) or drink spring water (and use spring water for your tea). A reverse osmosis system would take out any fluoride if you want to treat the water yourself. I’m not sure about a carbon system (Brita filter).
As far as dehydration, there is a very easy way to determine if you body is suffering from dehydration. Look at the color when you go to the bathroom. If the toilet bowl is clear or a very light yellow, you are drinking sufficient water. If it is bright yellow, or orange, you are dehydrated and need to drink more water. I find the more tea I drink, the more “clear” I am. (I’m usually horrible about remembering to drink when I Don’t drink Tea, so well…)
Cheers!
Oh wow. I thought I drank a fair bit and I usually average about 8-10 cups. As for family and friends, they think I am a tea addict but that probably has more to do with the fact that since joining steepster a few months back, my cupboard went from 50 teas to over 200 and counting. I just want to try everything and steepster really opened my eyes to awesome companies and teas.
varies for sure, especially the leisurely gongfu-y endless resteep nighttime pleasure type depending on if i’ve got free time after dinner, but i’d say at least 4 8oz cups a day give or take, and around 6 or 7 cups on average? sometimes more, occasionally less. like you, i like a cup or two first thing to make me feel human, and then we always do afternoon tea when my husband gets off work. on weekends we don’t but it evens out ’cause instead i bring a 16oz tumbler with me when we go out to do errands or see friends.
i live in a hot climate (it’s usually summer-like, over 85F and often more like 100F, like 8 or 9 months a year; this cold weather has actually kinda made me happy ‘cause i get a precious rare Real Winter here). when it’s warm, funny enough, the amount doesn’t diminish; it simply becomes cold steeped tea in mason jars stored in the fridge, enjoyed with meals instead of other cold refreshments.
Hmmmm, good question – depends on the day. I would have to say that I’m probably in the 8-10 range, but then I JUST NOW made my first cup today.
I drink more tea on work days than weekends – I don’t take tea on the go, I don’t normally stop at a shop for a cup of tea, so if I’m out and about I’m not drinking tea. I probably drink more in the winter than in the summer.
I’d say that most of the time I’m around 10 cups a day, except for those days when I’m pulling an all nighter for university, then I’m definitely in the 13-18 range haha.
I’ve never really been able to get into iced tea, but that might be because I just haven’t found a tea I like enough iced. I’ll have to try some and play around a bit this summer.
Ohhh, you have to try some black english breakfats then. It works really well as an iced tea!
Well… I have been drinking the teavanna one and it’s working fine for me so far. Pretty affordable at 3.99 for 2oz!
I’m in the 8-10 cups range, but if I’m studying I’ll consume up to 15 cups. I usually make a pot in the morning and another pot at night. During the day I’ll drink water, milk or juice. I don’t like drinking on the go, but when it’s one of the days I have class at 8am, I usually brew something strong in my timolino and take it with me to class.
I tend to make several cups at a time because I drink a lot, so I’ll heat up my kettle with eight cups worth and then make 3 different teas – two tall mugs with three teaspoons of loose tea each, and one smaller mug with 2 teaspoons worth. So technically I have eight cups of tea at once.
I do that at least three times a day, usually four (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night), so if 1 teaspoon of leaves = 1 cup of tea, then I have about 24-32 cups on a typical day.
Average of 8 cups of black tea and 6 cups of green tea.
It’s all I drink. i don’t like/drink milk, or lemonade, or anything else. It’s water, tea or nothing… :)
No less than a liter a day, but rarely more than 2. It is the first thing I do in the morning, and I rarely go for long without a pot nearby.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.