The Yin & Yang of Green Tea

I've had a belly ache for 4 days.  Chills, nausea, general uckiness. 

I drank some green tea, needing the comfort of tea, but thinking the black tea caffeine might not be good at that moment.  And of course, the studies about green tea have made it seem like mega-polyphenols are the answer to all that ails ya.  And we all know that green tea is higher in polyphenols than black tea. 

Unfortunately, it seemed to make me worse. 

I have, quite honestly, never been able to drink a lot of green tea.  And that Voice in my head always held out a sort of mini-judgment on me about it.  That damn Voice, the one that rags on me occasionally about Things I've Done Wrong or Reasons Why I'm a Horrible Person, whispered that if I was really a tea lover and fully health conscious, I would drink more green tea.  "Ought to", said the voice.  "SHOULD," said the voice. 

I usually manage to drown the Voice with a good strong cup of coffee or black tea or something really chocolatey and decadent.  I just assume I'm weak, that caffeine addiction is stronger than desire for health.

But then I ran across this article on Tea Masters that makes mention of green teas and "coolness" not being beneficial for older folx or those weak in yang energy.  Hey, that's me!  I've always been weak in yang energy, and now I'm an old fart to boot, so I went in search of more information.  Wendy Zhang, in an article here, writes:

Green tea, being “cold” in nature, eliminates toxic internal “heat,” induces diuresis, and counteracts the side effects of alcohol and of grease in meat. Being cold, it is most easily accepted in the summer and by those with heat symptoms such as fever, bad breath, cough, and inflammation. Black tea, being warm in nature, has the effect of warming and strengthening the spleen and stomach. It is popularly used in winter and for those experiencing cold symptoms such as stomach aches and loose stools.

Just as a coin has two sides, drinking tea can be either beneficial or harmful. Drinking green tea does not generally have side effects for young and healthy people since their yang energy is strong. However, for people who have a yang deficiency syndrome—indigestion and stomach aches, diarrhea, cool limbs, and anemia— prolonged consumption of green tea can damage the vital energy, aggravating their symptoms and making them feel bloated and nauseous.

According to Tea Masters the best tea for those who can't do straight green is "aged raw pu erh", which apparently has as much as 39% polyphenols (yer average green tea has only 30%) and is slow aged, rather than roasted.  Stephane says:

... you have to weigh in the 'cool' nature of green tea (or light oxidized oolong) when you assess it's benefits on your health. It may actually do more harm then good if you feel 'cold' already. The very best in terms of health benefits (and in terms of taste) is wild aged pu-er: it's quite unique in that it combines a high concentration of tea polyphenols with ripe, warm tea characteristics

Well, I'm going to have to find some raw, aged pu erh!  It's worth a try.   

On my searchings, I found this test, Are You Primarily Yin, Yang, or Yin/Yang?, from The Tao of Beauty by Helen Lee.  According to this, I'm actually in the low-balanced range, which surprised me.  Maybe all the work I've done on my innards is finally paying off! 

In any case, I can only go on how I feel.  And I would say, based on my own body responses, green tea is not always beneficial for everybody all the time. 

Also of interest, this article by George Wong, PhD, a Harvard-trained researcher at the Strang Cancer Prevention Center and Chinese herbalist, lists general symptoms of yin/yang imbalances and foods beneficial for each. Although the article's main focus is breast cancer and Traditional Chinese Medicine, I found lots of stuff to try for my own health. The best news from this article is

Chocolate and coffee can be good since they promote yang energy.

Well, hall-ee-loo-ya.  Now I can really tell the Voice to shove it.

Comments

[buy lipton tea]

I personally like this tea so much, good you shared this.

vee

I really like this blog. I'm going to stop by more often.

[NeedMeSomeTea]

i personally prefer black tea over green when it comes to soothing nerves.

[Christine]

Gaaaaa, Keewee, you made me spew coffee out my nose. I'm still laughing! What an image you put in my head. You crack me up, a girl after my own heart. Keep those nasty rocks out of my precious chocolate!

[keewee]

By the way there was a brief story on Q13 fox news this morning, about a 12lb block of chocolate covered in diamonds. Yours for $4.5 million. Spitting out all those diamonds would be a drag!

[keewee]

Seems I am primarily Yin.