TEA, COFFEE and COMMERCE

Tea and coffee are the most common drinks across the world despite being branded as bad beverages by most of the doctors.

Sipping Tea ...  

Ramaprasad & Rajyalakshmi

STORM  in a  CORONA  TEACUP ... 

          While tea industry was grinding to a halt in 2020 because of lockdowns around the world,  tea was making grand rounds on the Internet.   Social media flashed fake news about the benefits of tea in COVID-19.   One hurriedly published article (which was later removed),  in the WeChat account of Zhejiang CDC on Feb 26, 2020 claimed that drinking tea may help prevent COVID-19,  based on the flimsy evidence that tea inhibited proliferation of the virus in vitro (test tubes).  Added to this, was the news circulating that the whistleblower Chinese ophthalmologist, Dr. Li Wenliang  (who died of coronavirus) had documented evidence to support that tea has anti-coronavirus properties, and that tea was being given 3 times a day to patients in hospitals in China.  This was a big fat fake news.

            For more on this, read the article titled "Tea and Covid" written by  Rama Prasad and Vershawe and published in 'HEALTH' journal :      Rama Prasad, T., Versha Rajeev.  Tea and Covid. Health.  2020 October;  Vol.98; No.10; P: 4-6.

            To tide over the stagnancy in tea business due to the 'novel Corona' lockdowns, novel varieties of tea were introduced in Nilgiris -- Blue Tea, Virgin Green, Long Ding, Twirl Green, White Tea, Oolong, Masala Chai, Saffron Chai, Silver Needle, Gujarati Kawa, Kashmiri Kawa, etc.  The tea experimenters and connoisseurs have been tasting them.  

Take TEA with a pinch of SALT  !!!

https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/tea-coffee-and-commerce_30.html   

2023  WORLD  COFFEE  CELEBRATION  in  INDIA

            Before 16th century, live coffee seeds were not permitted to be taken out of the coffee-growing Middle East countries.  The story is that Baba Budan smuggled seven coffee seeds (by strapping them to his chest) to MYSORE  (Karnataka) STATE in India.  It made the Karnataka's capital city Bengaluru the coffee capital of India now.  Showcasing the coffee heritage to the world, the  5th WORLD COFFEE CONFERENCE of 2023 (WCC 2023) was held in Bengaluru in September 2023.  Tennis player and coffee planter Rohan Bopanna is the Brand Ambassador for the WCC 2023.

        Koraput Coffee :  At the World Conference in Bengaluru, brands of coffee grown in Koraput district in Odisha (a recent entry into coffee cultivation - 2017) won awards.  The district once a byword for tribal poverty is now emerging as a new coffee hub in India.  For city coffee aficionados, Koraput's coffee brands are now just a click away on e-commerce sites.

         

CHEERFUL COFFEE NEWS … July 2017

CONGRATULATIONS, Miss Coffee. Ultimately you won the case. Doctors all over the world accused you as a health spoiler ... they painted you black ... weaned away your lovers. Surprisingly, however, California researchers produced evidence that you contributed positively to the longevity of human beings. The American guys said that you must be enjoyed thrice a day for optimum health benefits ! They made you now more lovable and desirable. Yes, you are more cheerful and assertive too.  And you have the irresistible redolent flavour.

           With all the research evidence in your pocket, you can confidently tell your lovers to laugh when their doctors say: “ Stop taking coffee.” Dance lady, dance ... coffee lovers all over the world would be joining your ”Miss Coffee Dance Party” sipping you merrily without guilt !!!                                                                                                

Dance, dance, dance  ...  Miss Coffee Dance Party

          Yes, there is strong evidence in favour of coffee now. Staggering verdict ... confusing the laity and doctors as well ! Researchers from University of California, after studying about 200,000 persons for around 15 years, reported in the journal, ‘Annals of Internal Medicine’ (2017) that people who consumed a cup of coffee a day were 12 per cent less likely to die earlier compared to those who did not drink coffee … and 18 per cent for those who drank three to five cups a day … and the coffee drinking was found to be associated with a lower risk of death due to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory and kidney disease. This study is claimed to be the largest of its kind in the world, covering ethnically diverse participants from various countries. Another of this kind of large study endorsing the goodness of coffee was published in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ in 2012. These, along with some other favourable studies, put coffee in the “healthy diet and lifestyle” category, scientifically.

CONTROVERSIES

          So, my dear coffee lovers, go and hit the cups and embrace Miss Coffee before some studies come out with stronger evidence against coffee. Yes, that may happen … that is modern science and modern medicine !!! A drug which is said to be very effective and least toxic today may be banned after some time. Yes, it happened with many in the past. And, amusingly, a 'ban' on a drug may be lifted within weeks -- it happened with the anti-diabetic drug, Pioglitazone in India, the incredible India !  So, there are ups and downs for everything.  And here is an unpleasant news for Miss Coffee -- ironically from California the researchers of which State put her on cloud 9 earlier -- a California judge had ruled (March 2018) that coffee sold in the U.S. State should carry a CANCER warning !  This has come as a buzz-kill for many.  Of course, like many foods that are fried, coffee-roastng also produces a chemical called ACRYLAMIDE which is a carcinogen.  Coffee promoters argue that any such theoretical risk is outweighed by the benefits of coffee drinking.  Don't worry, Miss Coffee ... even polluted air which we are breathing is classified as a carcinogen by the  WHO !  No judge or government can ban polluted air ! As long as you please our palate, no judge can pull you down.

MUSHROOM  COFFEE

          There are a myriad varieties of coffee around the world.  Oddly, some varieties had sprung up with the addition of things like charcoal, banana, eggs, avocado, etc.  The latest (2023) is the "Mushroom coffee" which  is a mix of coffee beans and medicinal mushrooms (Reishi, Lion's mane, Chaga and Turkey's tail).  These mushrooms contain adaptogens, antioxidants, carotenoids, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals which are said to offer many health benefits. The ordinary culinary mushrooms (Oyster, Shiitake, and Portobello) are not used.  

          To taste my detailed comments on this subject, read my article titled “Of tea, coffee and commerce” that was published in  THE HINDU of January 12, 2014. You may access the article online by clicking on: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/of-tea-coffee-and-commerce/article5567951.ece 

Dr. T. Rama Prasad, BLOG: https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com

'PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic, Perundurai, Erode Dt., TN, India., Former Medical Superintendent (Special), RTS & IRT Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TEA -- the Good and the BAD

          Now, let's have a look at tea which has become a huge emotional anchor for people in India who are wedded to it.  Tea, a redolent and routine drink has come to help aficionados and connoisseurs brew a myriad varieties --  oolong to green, black and even white -- in a variety of eateries --  roadside tapri to premium five-star hotels.  One brand "Radhikas Fine ... Teas & Whatnots" offers 55 flavours of tea,  experimenting with a variety of blends, infusions,  floral notes and tissues to tickle and satiate the taste buds of tea lovers visiting quirky / quaint joints to premium lounges.  Tea lovers love the finer nuances of the art of making tea.  Some technology-based services are supplying tea (BoxC.in) through 'Cloud-based beverage services platform' that provides tea through 'Android-based disposers - also in heat-retaining disposable flasks through 'App-based channel', in India.  Of course tea has methylxanthines which are beneficial in some conditions.  Some asthma patients get some relief with a hot cup of tea.  Now, go on to read my published article which is reprinted below:

OPEN PAGE.         THE HINDU  of January 12, 2014

Of tea, coffee and commerce

T. Rama Prasad

JANUARY 12, 2014 03:22 IST

UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 08, 2016 20:37 IST

•    SHARE ARTICLE

         

Doctors usually advise against the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea. But a patient asked me during consultation: “How many cups of tea should I give my kids each day?” Before I could comprehend what he was saying, he waved a copy of The Hindu(Oct. 10, 2013, Coimbatore edition), which quoted an official of the Tea Board as saying: “The benefits of tea on the health front should be widely propagated.” An office-bearer of an organisation was also quoted as saying that a series of meetings would be held with the help of the Tea Board to promote tea-drinking among children.

         
 The Tea Board has often urged the public to drink more tea to lower the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer ( The Hindu, Sept. 25, 2001), quoting scientific literature on the value of tea in protecting people from these diseases, but conveniently ignoring literature on the possible and proven adverse effects of excessive tea consumption.

          
          Green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, pu-erh tea, and so on are all derived from the plant Camellia sinensis, native to China and India. Tea has for long been considered to be a healthy drink full of flavonoids and other goodies like antioxidants that have a variety of positive health benefits — reducing risk of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, cancer, obesity, infections, osteoporosis, hypertension, neurological disease, cognitive impairment, and so on. Scientific literature carries evidence in favour of tea, especially green tea which has more than 30 polyphenols and a catechin called epigallocatechin (EGCg) which act on the human system in positive ways.

          How much of this evidence is created by “paid research” is a different question. Industry has a big stake as after water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage, and as there does not seem to be a downside to tea. But some studies indicate that excessive consumption of tea or tea-based dietary supplements may cause osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s Disease, digestive disorders, premenstrual syndrome, cardiovascular problems, urinary system disturbances, sleeplessness, kidney stones, oesophageal cancer, nervous disorders, and so on.

Side-effects 

          Adverse effects are caused by the presence of fluoride, aluminium, tannins, oxalates, caffeine, and so on in tea leaves, especially in those that are not hand-picked and are machine-processed. Caffeine-related side-effects are more pronounced in children even when consumption is in small doses. Canadian guidelines recommend that young children should not get more than 45 mg of caffeine a day.

          A study by Jashua Lambert et al at Rutgers University, funded by the National Institutes of Health, revealed that excessive consumption of tea or tea-based products could cause chromosomal damage, foetal leukaemia and liver damage. One commercial brand of green tea extract was found to contain excessive levels of polyphenols, or plant-based antioxidants, whereas a cup of green tea has only about 8 mg.

          Another study led by Dr. Kashif Shafique of Glasgow University found that the risk of getting prostate cancer is 50 per cent more in men who drank more than seven cups of tea a day, compared to those who consumed less.

Propaganda

          All the negative evidence is drowned in the cacophony of aggressive marketing propaganda. Nowadays, even in the medical field, industry seems to define the diagnostic and treatment options — through controlled and sponsored (read ‘paid’) research.

Business promoters often use scientific observations selectively to mislead the public and augment the sale of their products. One may quote from the Journal of the American Medical Association(June 1999), and the “Nurses’ Health Study” and “Physicians’ Health Study” and appeal to the public to drink more coffee to lower the risk of gallstones, and to drink alcohol daily to protect against heart attacks and bad cholesterol levels.

Claims

                   No doubt, tea leaves are generally and nutritionally good, like many other leaves we use in our diet, but the tall claims are commercially motivated. A little tea may be good, but it is unduly glorified by business. And now it seems it makes business sense to get children addicted to tea. They are already victims of irresistible commercial junk food that is unfit for human consumption.

          There is no conclusive scientific evidence that tea, including ‘green tea’, reduces the risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, cancer or early death due to any cause. The U.S. National Cancer Institute “does not recommend for or against the use of tea to reduce the risk of any type of cancer.”

          Dissemination of imbalanced information does more harm than good. And if a little tea is good, more of it need necessarily not be better. So, take the Tea Board’s words with a pinch of salt.

(The writer is a Respirologist at the Pay What You Can Clinic, Perundurai, Tamil Nadu. He earlier served at the Perundurai Medical College & Research Centre. E-mail: drtramaprasad @gmail.com )

THE ABOVE ARTICLE IS REPRINTED FROM

An excerpt from one of my 'scribblings':

" ... CONFUSING  INFORMATION

We talk a whole lot these days about the perfidies of junk food, but it doesn’t crowd out a measure of sustained pique at all of the aggressively marketed fast-food industry, the snack-food industry and the soft-drink industry.

Ironically, in today's day and age, we are fed with a lot of 'scientific' evidence in favour of bad foods  through sponsored (? ‘paid’) research.  Not a day passes without the report of a scientific study making us think that the unreal is proved to be real, and the real is proved to be unreal ! With the advent of the Internet, WhatsApp, and social media sites, a lot of unauthentic information is spread.  Industry takes advantage of this. Media also give  distorted impressions to sensationalise study reports. For instance, a newspaper carried a report under a big and bold heading “Three-Four Cups of Coffee a Day may Cut Diabetes Risk” (TNIE, 4 Dec 2015).  It gave details of a study done at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.   What all the study found is that some coffee substances (cafestol and caffeic acid) increased insulin secretion/glucose uptake in muscle cells in rat cell lines in the laboratory.  It also said that coffee filters eliminate much of the cafestol in drip coffee.  People reading the headline and the coffee manufacturers go on promoting coffee drinking,  quoting the study out of context.  Read about how they promote tea drinking among children on ‘scientific’ grounds in my article titled “Tea, coffee and commerce” that was published in THE HINDU of January 12, 2014 ( http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/of-tea-coffee-and-commerce/article5567951.ece ). ..."

For more on this subject, go to the heading "Food, exercise and sleep" on my BLOG.