There are many reasons that people drink tea. Some just for its soothing nature. Others drink tea for the overall practice and mental space it gives. Some drink it for its perceived Health benefits. This piece is not to tear down or judge anyone on their reasoning for drinking tea. Instead, I hope to give a little perspective on my opinion of tea and the role it plays in my life, as well as talk about how some tea medical claims can be negative on the mental health of its consumers.

I have run this blog for three years. On my journey, I have seen a lot of wild claims about tea. Some claim to detox, some claim that they could help you avoid COVID, and some just talking about how it can be a health supplement. I even reviewed some of these teas (but no longer do). But seeing these teas now on my Instagram or online, creates an intense frustration in me, especially as I have developed multiple autoimmune and chronic conditions. Seeing companies try to prey on sick people by boosting their teas as medical miracles frustrates me, simply put.

A direct example: I have Hashimotos Hypothyroidism – an autoimmune Thyroid disease where I have to take a supplement to help my thyroid from overworking itself. I first went to Google to see if there was anything I could do to help my thyroid. A few searches later, I “discovered” that Moringa and Tulsi could potentially support thyroid health. I searched “Can Moringa Cure Thyroid” where many articles popped up about how this herb can help with thyroid health. Well – this wasn’t incorrect…but it wasn’t quite as it seemed either. What is not as commonly stated is that it also has a direct interaction with levothyroxine, a common thyroid supplement, where it messes with the absorption of the drug in the body.

I also found very positive results on Google about Tulsi with medical posts from doctors talking about how it can help with your thyroid health. My mom actually told be about its interaction through an herbalist book she picked up. More research indicates that it could actually lower thyroxine and make hypothyroidism worse. When I found out that I was taking these herbs more medicinally but they were bad for my health, I was devastated and could not believe how much credit I gave these herbs. I stopped immediately and gave away any teas that had those two herbs. I felt like I had wasted time and potentially hurt myself in the process.

The most egregious offense I have seen since is tulsi and moringa herbs in blends where they are targeting thyroid health – something I would have swarmed to in my early years of diagnosis. While it dows seem beneficial to some people, i unfortunately am not in that group as my thyroid health already took a nosedive. Another offense? I found tea blends that claim to help your thyroid but do not list any ingredients whatsoever – how would you know if it could actually help without knowing what is inside?

While these are just two examples, the spread of information could be negative on not only the health but mental state of the consumer. But this can be anything, fill in the blank. I was having a discussion with my fiance about whether or not raw pile beans are bad for you, and I found supporting articles for both sides. So this concept of medical misinformation is not new and overall, it is confusing. It is distressing. Especially for those who thought they were doing something good for their health.

Switching gears slightly, there occasionally is an impression of “oh you drink tea? You must be so healthy” that people tell me. Or promoting that tea is a cure-all for everything. As someone who drinks a lot of tea and has a lot of medical issues, this idea can be quite damaging. Also considering my tea consumption can spike to double digit cups – I am far frommthe picturr of healthiness. While I do believe that tea consumption is healthy and should be consumed, sometimes the direct mentality of tea and healthiness can also be a bit damaging. It can be quite difficult to hear about how healthy you are being when the reality is quite different and the reasoning is different . I saw this specifically during the pandemic with all of the teas that promoted being able to prevent sickness and boosting your immune system. It gives me the “icks” when companies use a large health problem for personal gain, and the same goes with normal health marketing as well.

Well, I decided to make one final statement – a mic drop perhaps. Repeat after me: Detox teas do not work – your body naturally detoxes”. Yes, I just had to include it in.

Perhaps this article came from a small sense of frustration that tea can never cure my issues, but I do think it is an important topic to consider. Whether you are a consumer buying teas based on health claims – please do be wise about whether or not the health claim is feasible or achievable – or if you are a tea company that makes claims – please think of your consumer, I really just wanted to bring a small awareness to this issue. Happy Brewing!

-Danielle

A few resources I used:

https://www.rxlist.com/moringa/supplements.htm

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1101/holy-basil#:~:text=Holy%20basil%20might%20lower%20thyroxine,bleeding%20during%20and%20after%20surgery.