Harmful effects of drinking Excessive TEATea is one of the most widely consumed drinks. It is taken primarily as a hot drink for its stimulating effects. One feels refreshed after drinking it and gets over his tired feelings. This reputation leads to tea drinking habit which in course of time becomes deep rooted and difficult to give up.

The most active alkaloid principle in tea is caffeine. This is an addictive drug as it stimulates central nervous system. The effects are short lived but withdrawal symptoms observed are lethargy, headaches, anxiety, irritability and insomnia. All this shows that this is a quite strong drug which could lead to potential health problems.

Tea is prepared from leaves of shrub belonging to camellia family. The plant is a native of south east Asia. The earliest record of its cultivation comes from China in 4th century AD.

The chemical composition of tea leaves are as follows:

  • Moisture: 5 – 8%
  • Aromatic oils: 0.5%
  • Caffeine: 2.5 – 5%
  • Nitrogen: 4.75 – 5.5%
  • Soluble substances: 38 – 45%
  • Tannin: 7 – 14%
  • Minerals: 5 – 5.75%

The primary effects of tea are due to alkaloids, caffeine, tannin and aromatic oils. It is not only composition of tea leaves that is harmful but also the composition of infusion which is prepared by boiling tea with water.

The harmful effects of drinking excessive tea in case of specific diseases are as summed below:

Indigestion: Tea is said to slow down digestion. It impedes the action of ptyalin, a digestive ferment of saliva which acts as cooked starch. Tannin is responsible for inhibition of this condition. This effect could however disappear once milk is added as milk precipates tannin. Tea also delays stomach digestion and could lead to gas formation diarrhoea and constipation.

Kidney disorders: Experiments show that 5 cups of tea increases the urine by 400 – 500% in people vulnerable to kidney related ailments. This continued stimulation of kidneys by caffeine might damage them. Tea could also promote kidney stone because of its high concentration of oxalate.

Premenstrual syndrome: Drinking tea could aggravate symptoms of premenstrual syndrome . According to a research conducted under Dr Annette Rossignol, an associate professor of public health at Oregon University, women in China who drank between 1 – 4 cups of tea a day were twice as likely to have PMS then non tea drinkers. drinking 8 cups of tea increased the PMS occurrence 10 times.

Incontinence: Drinking too much tea could lead to incontinence or frequent/urgent impulse to urinate. According to a recent study conducted at St. George’s Hospital London, caffeine could exert pressure on bladder by causing muscle surrounding it to contract increasing the need to urinate.

The respiratory and cardiac muscles are also stimulated by caffeine as coronary arteries get dilated resulting in the increase in the rate of blood flow. The quickening of respiration lowers the level of carbon dioxide and increases the heat production of body by 10 – 20%.

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43 Comments

  1. i want to know the effects of drinking of tea for testing and sampling before getting a proper blend of tea for packaging. if a person drinks nearly 25 cups of tea daily for this purpose how his health will be affected.
    i am from India. please give me an urgent responce for my querry.

    thanks

    n g

  2. To clarify my doubts, may I seek answers to the following questions:
    1. Can excessive intake of tea aggravate the condition of my husband’s already deteriorated left femoral head caused by degeneration and his advancing age?
    2. Does his daily five to seven cups of tea intake clash with his daily intake of the following drugs: casodex, an anti androgen continuesly treating prostate which had advanced cancer, but is on remission for a year now; coozar and pritor for his high blood pressure; lipidor for his very high bad cholesterol level; and viartril and celebrex for his degenerating bones?
    3. Can his intake of tea assist greatly in his effort to reduce his size and weight which accordingly promote futher bone degeneration?

    With high hopes on encouraging and enlightening answers!

    Ms. Godinez

  3. For me tea has always been harmful. OK I believe it refreshes you but for a while perhaps a few hours. After those few hours, symptoms begin. I become unbearably drowsy, I must have another cup to go on. I start looking dark. Oil oozes on the face that makes me look tired & exhausted. And yet I keep drinking tea.

  4. I used to take 10 to 12 cups of tea daily. I am suffering from high BP, high cholestrol & Gout problem. Let me know is there any bad effects of taking above quantity of tea in my health.

  5. for me tea is a poison i feel poisoned i cant stop drinking it i promise i will not and then again i have it wen i see someone drink it or talk of it i feel like vomitting all d tea out of my system dat was my worst part of my life wen i drank tea

  6. I am 17 years old. Please let me know is it harmful to drink 5 cups of tea daily? If yes, then how many cups of tea is harmless daily?

  7. i have been drinking for almost 10 years but realized now that its best to drink green tea.
    i have been suffering from borderline BPon all this while and realized it was due to excessive tea intake.
    i have monitored my bp everyday for the last 2 years as adviced by my doc and after a lot of research got my bp in normal range,…..atleast these things have worked for me.
    1. excluded tea started drinking low fat high calcium fortified milk
    2.eat lot of fresh fruits and veg also spinach
    3.take magnesium supplement
    4.take cod liver oil and flaxseed oil
    5. have 1 banana a day
    6. no fast food …started using losalt
    this has got my bp below the 120/80

  8. drinking or eating too much of anything is bad for health.Tea is not an exception.Tea is the best beverage for Human body.

  9. Certainly alot more information on Tea than i knew before reading this post. The important thing with something like tea is to ensure you don’t get addicted. Treat it like alcohol, little and often is fine but to excess and you will become dependent on it.

    Great post and great information. Thanks for sharing,

  10. i get so scared when i read this article,actually am an addict of tea, i drink 4-5 cups daily,am really shattered b.cos i could put a limit on it,am so strict to maintain my body image as i wont eat any rubbish thgs including sweet items, but drinking tea is my habit and now am really upset of that…

  11. I am 52 years of age and have been a tea drinker probably since the age of 15 –its only when i just stopped dring tea 1 month back that i realised what harm tea was doing to me
    at 15 age i used to drink 2 cups (120 ml each)daily of ctc tea now it had increased to 4 to 5 mugs of tea

    when i stopped tea drinking completely this is what happened

    1)my whole body used to VIOLENTLY itch with the onset of summer till it went away in july –the itching stopped
    2)whole body had small wart like eruptions and the skin leather like –it becme soft in 1 month and the eruption fell off
    3)whole body sensitivity increased to temperatire and and touch (which had got diminished)
    4) less visits to to toilet both for urination and stools
    5) better digestionof food

    before i could drink tea as it came of the stove and it used to surprise everyone as to how i could drink such hot tea —-now i cannot drink such hot tea (which is normal)

    i wake up with much less body ache

  12. i used to drink 6-7 cup of black tea a day ..after reding this article a promise ..i vill touch cup of tea more than 2-3 times

  13. i used to drink twice last 3 months ago, and I’m just 17 years old.. what could It be happen? I’t could affect my body, with over slim body?

  14. my boyfriend give a lipton tea, IS THAT tea can make me over slim? thats why i didn’t grow and more chubby..

  15. this is a very helpful information. Im just starting to do my tea diet and i’ve ben crazy on drinking it. I consumed almost 10 cups yesterday and today. I find it really addictive. I’m glad that you have this info. Thanks a lot!

  16. I LOVE tea, but it doesn’t always like me. The secret is not to overdo it. listen to your body

  17. This article helped me a lot for knowing about the various effects of tea on health. Thanks..

  18. it simply state that too much will always be harmful..discipline is still no. one component to have a quality,healthy and longer life…our tea will always be our tea..enjoy it
    savor it. and learn hot to control it.happy drinking…

  19. It Baffles me how the world is in total denial about tea being a drug. The addiction is so widespread that, unlike tobacco, alcohol and opiates etc…, tea drinking is generally seen as socially acceptable and thus harmless. But it clearly isn’t.

    Scientific research rarely focuses on the harmful effects, knowing that most people don’t want to hear about it, (and most scientists are probably addicts themselves anyway). Meanwhile, we non-tea drinkers are unfairly regarded as freaks by the wider caffeine-addicted population. Tobacco smokers, alcohol drinkers and other drug users are taxed, vilified and persecuted for their habits, but tea drinkers are somehow exempt from criticism. It’s SUCH hypocrisy!

    A glass of water is a far safer, healthier, and environmentally more sustainable alternative. Non-tea-drinkers of the world unite!

    Thank you for an interesting and informative article.

  20. thank you for providing this useful information. I think a lot of them may respect this. I was highly addicted by tea after reading this i understood the harmful effects i left the tea completely thanks a lot. god bless

  21. Nobody tells ill effects of tea. Indians offer tea to all the guests. I have started taking almost 8 cups these days. When I don’t have a tea after 2-3 hours , the body starts shivering and lethargy sets in. I get a good sleep after taking tea and awake also with a tea. ,!!!”””
    now I know the reason.

  22. Friends, taking excessive quantity of tea has affected my health. It has increased the uric acid in my blood and it is causing the frequent urination, indigestion and heart burn. I want to request all of you, that it’s enough to take a single cup of tea daily…..I was habitual of taking the tea 5-6 times. But now after this article and all the other people suggestion, I have decided to leave this bad habit and will try not to take even a single cup of tea. Try it, you can also quit this bad habit…..Thanks…..

  23. I used to drink tea every morning and now it spirralled out of controll by 3-5 cups a day. I tried to stop because believe me or not i used to hate drinking tea but its like a taboo in my family and my mum made me drink tea every morning. Its like she introduced me to tobacco because tea has become very addictive to me now. You try to tell me to stop drinking tea and my brain would think who is this idiot?

  24. tea is like sweet urine.Friends if u want good health,leave it immediately.
    Use fruits in your diet max.
    Avoid milk also.

  25. I used to take nearly ten cups of tea. It has caused lot of problems like high blood pressure,frequent urination etc & I want to restrict to Only two cups.

  26. Though this is an old thread but I stumbled on it while checking for ‘why my body aches when I dont drink tea but feel better after I take a cup’. I drink 2 cups a day with milk and sugar and I feel really good but not so good after a few hours. I wonder what some of the stories are now especially for the then tea lovers.

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