Iced Tea has health risks too

Tea is known to have a lot of health benefits. Its high level of antioxidants get rid of free radicals from our body. It’s also known to fight heart diseases and some cancer. Does that mean it’s the same with an iced tea? After all, it may just be the ‘ice’ that makes it different.

Why I Drink Iced Tea

Having a refreshing and cool drink in every meal seems to be everybody’s routine. Instead of Coke or other soda brands that goes along with value meals in fast foods, I pay extra to have iced tea.

• I am not normally a health buff but as a child I was always reminded by my mother that drinking too much Coke isn’t healthy.
• I also witnessed a few people who were fond soda drinkers weren’t doing good in their urinary health.
• Also, since powdered iced tea is the easiest drink to prepare at home other than powdered juices, and rather than real fruit juices, having iced tea in every meal became my routine. It’s also my comfort drink everytime I dine out.
• I prefer to drink iced tea while my friends are getting drunk in a booze session.

The idea that iced tea is healthy never gave me second thoughts about moderating my iced tea consumption. But I noticed that I started to drink up to 4-7 bottles a day. I realized that may be way too much. Like the old cliche, “Too much of something is bad enough.” Plus, I hardly drink water. So I researched about the risks of drinking too much iced tea and here’s what I found out.

Health Risks of Iced Tea

1. Kidney stones – Oxalate, the main chemical found in kidney stones, is highly concentrated in iced tea.
2. Iron deficiency –  tea can decrease the amount of iron absorbed by the body. It was said that drinking iced tea after meals can worsen this risk of iron deficiency.
3. Risks of Caffeine - Iced tea has 50mg of caffeine in it per day. The maximum safe level we should consume in a day is only 300mg. So the max you should be drinking is 6 glasses if you have no other caffeine in a day. Caffeine also depletes the body of calcium, B vitamins, potassium and zinc. If you do not get enough nutrients to replace what caffeine depletes us of, then you start to get a whole slew of other problems associated with those nutritional deficiencies.
4. Dehydration – Tea does not count towards water intake. No drink with caffeine or alcohol do. They both dehydrate us and extra water must be consumed to offset it. When dehydrated we feel tired and lethargic regardless of caffeine being a stimulant. Being dehydrated will also cause headaches and other aches and pains in the body too. Your organs will work harder, your joints will not be properly lubricated, your blood will not be able to transport nutrients very effectively, and removing waste and toxins from your body is also harder when we are dehydrated. Dry skin is also a symptom of dehydration.
5. Too much fluoride – Fluoride is one of the substances that can help people in small doses, by preventing tooth decay, but can hurt in much bigger doses, study author Dr. Michael P. Whyte of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri told AMN Health. Read related article “how too much fluoride in iced tea diagnosed a woman with skeletal fluorosis”

Iced tea will still be a healthier alternative to carbonated drinks if moderated. Other than cancer prevention and cardiovascular health, iced tea is also known to provide oral and bone health benefits. Iced tea is healthier when brewed.

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