How do you consume tea on a raw food diet? What's the preparation and most effective way? I've never been a tea drinker but I know there are a lot of extremely nutritious and medicinal tea's out there and would like to learn how to start implementing them into my diet. Any veteran tea drinkers willing to share some info?

Teas generally have tannins so the best way to have tea is at least an hour before a meal so absorption is not too negatively effected. Never have after a meal for at least two hours or else various nutrient binding will happen.

I will post the science literiture to prove this when l have a spare moment.

Another thing to be aware of is that certain teas are said to collected soldium flouride in the fiber of the plant in massive quantities, so when you boil the tea it leaches into the drink. Green tea and black tea are said to be major culprits of this.

www.thesproutarian.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2014 03:00AM by The Sproutarian Man.

How nasty are they? Very. Yes a tea study is posted below. Why? Because tea is high in tannins and polyphenols like many raw vegan foods, and simply eating fresh produce high in vitamin C isn't going to solve the iron absorption problem because it only will adress phytic acid, yet the tanniojns still rear their ugly head. We can only reduce the dreaded tannins by fermenting in a high phytase solution. Tannins have sharper teeth than even the high level phytic acids.

Cup of tea studies on poor iron absorption caused by polyphenols (probably tannins)
Single-meal studies using tea and coffee as sources of polyphenols have shown that polyphenols decrease iron absorption [75,76,77,78,79]. Although few studies have measured the polyphenol content of test beverages, it appears polyphenols have a dose-dependent effect on iron absorption, with increasingly concentrated tea having more potency [77]. Tea made from 3 g tea leaves concentrated at 396 mg/275 mL serve polyphenols reduced absorption by 91%, while the same tea diluted to 99 mg/275 mL serve polyphenols reduced iron absorption by 82% [77]. The timing of beverage consumption may also be influential. This notion was demonstrated by Morck et al. [78], who found that consuming coffee one hour following a meal or simultaneously with a meal both inhibited iron absorption by 44%, while coffee consumption one hour prior to food had no effect.Adding milk to beverages does not appear to meaningfully alter the inhibitory effect of polyphenols


Iron and Zinc Nutrition in the Economically-Developed World: A Review

Karen H. C. Lim, Lynn J. Riddell, Caryl A. Nowson, Alison O. Booth, and Ewa A. Szymlek-Gay
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]


and

however 100 mg of ascorbic acid added to a meal of rice and soup could not counteract the inhibitory effect of tea

The effect of tea on iron absorption.

Disler PB, Lynch SR, Charlton RW, Torrance JD, Bothwell TH, Walker RB, Mayet F
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]


There are also other studies which demonstrate the effects of tea and how to counteract the problems.

BUT....there are also many studies that show tannins severely limit zinc aborption, various fatty acids, carbs and various minerals, and the tannins can cause irritation of the intestines and help mess up the good bacteria in the intestine. Unfortunately l have no time to post such links.


The above links was from the fermentation thread, and it IS well worth spending the time to read the thread.
[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

www.thesproutarian.com

Is this for all teas, including medicinal one's like Pau D'Arco, blueberry, chaga, etc?

For 'tea' I just use herbs. My main staples are usually nettle, hibiscus, peppermint, ginger, and rooibos. I brew them in quart Mason jars. In the summer I leave them outside in the sunshine for 4 or 5 hours to brew. In the winter I just leave them out on the counter overnight and they are done brewing, at room temperature, and ready the next morning. I make them in batches and keep them in the fridge so there is always a variety handy to either drink plain or to mix and match.

After they are done brewing I pour them into another quart sized canning jar using a sieve and a canning jar funnel. In the US canning jars and canning funnels can be bought in many department and grocery stores. They are inexpensive and very convenient for many purposes.

When I want something more robust, like woody root teas, I pour hot water over them in a French press. Once the tea has brewed you can warm it up again in a sauce pan. I just keep my finger in the pan until it gets hot enough to remove. If I don't keep my finger in it I usually can't catch the tea in time before it boils. Electric stoves are problematic that way.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2014 04:08AM by SueZ.

SueZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For 'tea' I just use herbs. My main staples are
> usually nettle, hibiscus, peppermint, ginger, and
> rooibos. I brew them in quart Mason jars. In the
> summer I leave them outside in the sunshine for 4
> or 5 hours to brew. In the winter I just leave
> them out on the counter overnight and they are
> done brewing, at room temperature, and ready the
> next morning. I make them in batches and keep them
> in the fridge so there is always a variety handy
> to either drink plain or to mix and match.
>
> After they are done brewing I pour them into
> another quart sized canning jar using a sieve and
> a canning jar funnel. In the US canning jars and
> canning funnels can be bought in many department
> and grocery stores. They are inexpensive and very
> convenient for many purposes.


I was watching a presentation by David Wolfe a while back and the question of 'sun brewing' was brought up and he said he was very opposed to it because it's been shown that leaving water out in the sun creates a bunch of organisms in your water which can be identified using a microscope. How do you brew them in the winter? Dump the contents into a jar and just let it sit overnight?

jtprindl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I was watching a presentation by David Wolfe a
> while back and the question of 'sun brewing' was
> brought up and he said he was very opposed to it
> because it's been shown that leaving water out in
> the sun creates a bunch of organisms in your water
> which can be identified using a microscope.

Maybe he for got to put a lid on it. I use lids.



How do
> you brew them in the winter? Dump the contents
> into a jar and just let it sit overnight?


Yes. I use loose teas that I buy by the pound.
It's much fresher and cheaper that way. For most
teas I use 1 T per cup of water so for the quart
jars I use 1/4 C loose tea. You can always dilute
it if it's too strong.

powerlifter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jtprindl Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Is this for all teas, including medicinal one's
> > like Pau D'Arco, blueberry, chaga, etc?
>
> No the teas you mentioned there aren't high in
> tannins.
>
> The tannin rich teas tend to be the camellia
> sinensis plant such as green, white and black.
> Rooibos is a caffeine free alternative which is
> low in tannins and provides similar benefits to
> the camellia sinensis plant.
>


I'm confused lol, you just said green tea was low in tannins and then said in the next post "The tannin rich teas tend to be the camellia sinensis plant such as green, white and black". Rooibos was another one I was thinking about trying, but I wouldn't want to negatively effected in any way.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2014 12:08AM by Prana.

<<<Is this for all teas, including medicinal one's like Pau D'Arco, blueberry, chaga, etc?>>>

Remember, Tea is 1 of the 16 Main Methods of Application for Herbs, but Pau D'Arco is unique because the bark and/or wood must be boiled for at least 8-10 minutes rather than making a simple Tea or Infusion.

Peace and Love..........John

Wouldn't the whole leaf (or whatever part) be superior to dried powder?

The major concern about green and black tea is the extremely high sodium flouride content, other teas aren't near so bad in this regard. Regarding tannins, best to have the tea at least an hour before the meal.

Unfortunately in a lot of the areas inland in the US where there is a natural iodine deficiency and an overabundance of natural fluoride in the water much more diligent care is needed concerning the high fluoride teas, IMO.


I live in one of these "goiter belt" zones and when my well water was tested I was told it had half of the fluoride content municipalities poison their water with.

Anyone else remember Edgar Cayce commenting that in the Midwest, where there is a natural high fluoride content in the water, people should not take in additional fluoride? I do, probably because I live here.

And yes, the whole leaves/parts are always a superior way to buy leaves, petals, woody herbs, and seaweeds, too. This gives you the freshest and best of the product and is also good insurance of not buying the inferior floor sweepings grades left over from processing the good stuff. You can, and often should, powder these things for use before brewing them which is easy and quick in your raw food kitchen.

you could cold-brew tea at room temperature or even in the fridge, but you'd have to let it sit overnight as oposed to 5 min.

I make regular cooked teas then ferment them with kombucha. That way I end up with a 'living' food; full of probiotics (and delicious!) even though the original ingredients have been cooked.



Free Newsletter: [bit.ly]
Facebook: [www.facebook.com]
Instagram: [www.instagram.com]
Blog: [RawFoodScotland.co.uk]

jtprindl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How do you consume tea on a raw food diet? What's
> the preparation and most effective way? I've never
> been a tea drinker but I know there are a lot of
> extremely nutritious and medicinal tea's out there
> and would like to learn how to start implementing
> them into my diet. Any veteran tea drinkers
> willing to share some info?

Well, now that we've shared a lot of our info and tips with you, what do you have to say? Have you tried to make your own tea yet? If you have how did you do it? Are you happy with the results?

SueZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jtprindl Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > How do you consume tea on a raw food diet?
> What's
> > the preparation and most effective way? I've
> never
> > been a tea drinker but I know there are a lot
> of
> > extremely nutritious and medicinal tea's out
> there
> > and would like to learn how to start
> implementing
> > them into my diet. Any veteran tea drinkers
> > willing to share some info?
>
> Well, now that we've shared a lot of our info
> and tips with you, what do you have to say? Have
> you tried to make your own tea yet? If you have
> how did you do it? Are you happy with the results?


Haven't tried it yet but I might try cold brewing something in the future.

Wait until you see how much faster cold brewing tea goes when you use distilled water. It's so easy and it's OK to brew it right in the fridge for a few days before straining it if you're too busy to get to it the next day. It's a really good raw food diet habit to get into. What have you got to lose?

I had an amazing water today. Chopped up cucumber basil ice and something else in a huge jug. I call that tea, right.. My friend made it. delicious