Drink Weak Tea

Tea is undoubtedly healthier than other beverages. Wei Guo, a attending physician in the hospital's nutrition department, believes that if you don't like drinking plain water, you should mainly opt for weak tea—use less tea leaves, just enough for some flavor.

As for how to choose between different types of tea, Wei Guo believes, "As long as it's not strong tea, any way of drinking is fine." This is because strong tea is more likely to cause adverse effects such as insomnia, stomach pain, and even stones.

Use a Large Cup

Wang Qiong, Secretary-General of the Chinese Tea Art Association, believes that for most people, it's better to drink hot tea from a large cup. A large cup allows you to drink enough hot tea in one go to achieve the effect of "opening the ghost gate and cleansing the mansion"—that is, through sweating and diuresis, it speeds up blood circulation and expels metabolic waste from the body.

Drinking from a small cup or small pot allows the tea to cool down quickly; by the time you drink it, it's basically already cool, which offers no health benefits.

However, it should be noted that tea leaves should not be soaked in water for long periods, as the longer they soak, the more tea alkaloids are released, and nutrients are lost.

Drink During Shen Shi (3-5 PM)

Wang Qiong recommends that the best time to drink tea is during Shen Shi, i.e., between 3 PM and 5 PM. TCM believes that Shen Shi is when the Bladder Meridian is most active, allowing for more efficient water metabolism. Of course, this does not mean you cannot drink tea at other times.

Wang Qiong warns people not to drink tea after 10 PM, as this is already the time of Greater Yin (Taiyin), when Yin energy is relatively strong. Drinking cold, cooling tea at this time adds Yin to Yin, which can harm the body. Especially for those prone to insomnia, it's best not to drink tea after 9 PM.

Varies by Person

If you drink tea excessively for health purposes, it can also harm your body. Never hear that Pu'er tea can help with weight loss and then drink it endlessly, or hear that green tea can fight cancer and drink it regardless of how poor your digestive function is—that will backfire.

Generally speaking, most women, due to their constitution, are not very suitable for drinking green tea, which is the most cooling in nature. If they must drink it, they can choose to drink some in summer or when they have internal heat. Black tea and Dark tea (Hei Cha), which have a higher degree of fermentation and are milder in nature, are suitable for women, the elderly, and those with poor gastrointestinal function.

In addition, the choice of tea should also vary according to the seasons. Wang Qiong explains the general rule for drinking tea in the four seasons: In spring, you can drink more flower tea, which can diffuse the lungs and reduce fire; in summer, you can drink more green tea and raw Pu'er to clear heat and relieve summer heat; in cool autumn, you can drink more Oolong tea, which is relatively mild; in winter, drinking black tea is better for its warming effect. Because Oolong tea has a neutral nature, it can be drunk all year round.

On the basis of these general rules, everyone should slowly find the tea that suits their constitution, including the type of tea, the strength of the tea, and the temperature, based on what feels comfortable for their body.

Conclusion

Many people expect to improve their health by drinking tea. Wei Guo reminds us that although tea has certain effects in many areas such as lowering lipids, lowering blood sugar, and fighting cancer, judging by the amount of tea people can drink, it is impossible to achieve the purpose of "curing diseases" by relying on "a few cups of light tea."

More importantly, fighting cancer, losing weight, lowering blood sugar, etc., are all "systematic projects" that cannot be achieved by relying solely on one kind of food or drink. "If you drink tea while also eating carcinogens like barbecue skewers, it won't have an anti-cancer effect; if you eat large amounts of fish and meat every meal, you can't lose weight by drinking tea."