5 ms·

This speaks to one of my pet peeves, that lots of brands of herbal teas (e.g. Traditional Medicinals, Yogi Tea) put licorice in most of their tea blends. They

This speaks to one of my pet peeves, that lots of brands of herbal teas (e.g. Traditional Medicinals, Yogi Tea) put licorice in most of their tea blends. They do this because it tastes great, makes the tea taste naturally sweet and warming + counters the bitter flavor of the other herbs in the blend without actually adding sugar. Unfortunately that's not ideal when you're drinking several cups of Throat Coat tea cause of a sore throat, or their stress reducer/sleepytime teas before bed because it raises cortisol and BP. Some folks go off the deep end and try to self-medicate everything with herbs, not realizing that they can have adverse effects as severe and long-lasting as any pharmaceutical, or that in many (most?) cases pharmaceuticals are safer. Other folks discount them completely, and assume they have zero physiological effects whatsoever, as though cannabis and coffee don't exist, which I think is also mistaken. Nothing boils my blood more though than amateur herbalists reading an intro book or a few wiki articles or watching a few videos on TikTok and thinking they're qualified to tell people to take shit like gotu kola or ginko biloba for memory, nevermind that these things probably don't help much with that, and worse can thin the blood and lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Anyway, I think brands of tea like TM and Yogi contribute to this (admittedly in a small way) with their irresponsible formulations Thx for reading my rant

colechristensen 4y ago
If you can’t poison yourself with it, it’s flavor not medicine. In other words if there’s no such thing as an overdose there’s also no effective dose.
amelius 4y ago
Yes! I got ill several times from drinking these licorice concoctions. The worst herb imho is Saint Johns Wort. Stay away from it. Has anyone found a tea that is suitable for drinking (say) 1L per day of?
- klipt 4y ago
  Decaffeinated green tea or rooibos tea are pretty harmless.
- jamiek88 4y ago
  In South America it’s common to drink that much Yerba Mate. Not sure if it’s healthy though! Edit: and the very next thread talks about the esophageal cancer risk of that! I guess in everything, the dose makes the poison. Hot water with a slice of lemon is probably safe!
  - amelius 4y ago
    > Hot water with a slice of lemon is probably safe! This can cause dental erosion ...
  - nkozyra 4y ago
    The risks of mate are generally attributed to the style of drinking it rather than the mate itself. Anything with caffeine is probably ideally consumed moderately though.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - steve1977 4y ago
    > Hot water with a slice of lemon is probably safe! Hot drinks in general are not safe as far as I know, sorry ;)
- _a_a_a_ 4y ago
  St Johns Wort contains an MAOI. I don't think this herb should be taken without understanding that, and what an MAOI is, and what MAOIs interact with (SSRIs, and badly. Personal experience with that. Can be a hospital job, with death as a possible outcome though I believe that's rare). FYI
  - slv77 4y ago
    It can also cause cataracts (https://news.fordham.edu/science/st-johns-wort-and-sun-dont-mix/ https://news.fordham.edu/science/st-johns-wort-and-sun-dont-...)
- mikae1 4y ago
  > Has anyone found a tea that is suitable for drinking (say) 1L per day of? How about actual tea from the tea plant (camellia sinensis)? Try green, white or yellow tea.
  - roundandround 4y ago
    Green teas are really quite safe and pretty low in caffeine, but even black tea with Bergamot is apparently pretty safe until you are drinking 4L a day.
- tmtvl 4y ago
  Hōjicha is pretty good.
unshavedyak 4y ago
> and assume they have zero physiological effects whatsoever, as though cannabis and coffee don't exist, which I think is also mistaken. Sidenote on your rant, i imagine i generally agree with you but it feels unfair to compare Cannabis or Coffee to other, very likely mild, herbal remedies. I doubt most of the people you nitpick in that section would debate any herbal remedies that have as immediate and observable affects as that of Coffee or Cannabis. Eg, i don't discount that herbal can be immensely helpful - but it's not something i tend to reach for because i cannot easily make sense between what is a scam and what is real. I don't have this issue with coffee in the slightest because the effect is nearly impossible to miss. Combine that with a healthy dose of confirmation bias that we all have and frankly i have no clue how to tell which herbal remedies are actually helpful and which aren't - from my observations at least. I can only read studies or w/e and make an effort to consume X thing under Y condition.
- newaccount74 4y ago
  Comfrey is a herbal medicine with a strong effect. It's a pain relief drug and used to be the go-to medicine for bone fractures. Unfortunately it's also toxic to the liver. There are salves based on comfrey where they remove the toxic parts, and I've used them myself. I was sceptical at first that a herbal based remedy would do anything, but for lack of a better option I tried it, and it actually worked.
- illiac786 4y ago
  >I don't have this issue with coffee in the slightest because the effect is nearly impossible to miss. The problem is not missing the effect, it's missing (long term) side effects. And even large scale pharmaceutical studies miss them (you could debate if it's intentional in some cases) so it's really hard.
tromp 4y ago
I drink one cup of zoethout tea [1] every day with lunch, as I enjoy the taste. That's 2 grams of tea, 82% of which is zoethout wortel (liquorice root). Should I worry about any bad long term effects, or would that be considered a safe consumption level? [1] https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi106666/ah-kruiden-zoethout-thee https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi106666/ah-kruiden-zoet...
- washadjeffmad 4y ago
  You can always bring it up to your doctor, but if your panels are normal and your BP is stable, there's likely no issue. It's a good idea to regularly monitor your blood pressure, regardless, since it's a good indicator of impending and active health conditions. I've got to monitor both potassium and BP, so I'd notice a change in trend before my yearly physical.

colechristensen 4y ago

If you can’t poison yourself with it, it’s flavor not medicine. In other words if there’s no such thing as an overdose there’s also no effective dose.

amelius 4y ago

Yes! I got ill several times from drinking these licorice concoctions. The worst herb imho is Saint Johns Wort. Stay away from it. Has anyone found a tea that is suitable for drinking (say) 1L per day of?

klipt 4y ago
Decaffeinated green tea or rooibos tea are pretty harmless.
jamiek88 4y ago
In South America it’s common to drink that much Yerba Mate. Not sure if it’s healthy though! Edit: and the very next thread talks about the esophageal cancer risk of that! I guess in everything, the dose makes the poison. Hot water with a slice of lemon is probably safe!
- amelius 4y ago
  > Hot water with a slice of lemon is probably safe! This can cause dental erosion ...
- nkozyra 4y ago
  The risks of mate are generally attributed to the style of drinking it rather than the mate itself. Anything with caffeine is probably ideally consumed moderately though.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- steve1977 4y ago
  > Hot water with a slice of lemon is probably safe! Hot drinks in general are not safe as far as I know, sorry ;)
_a_a_a_ 4y ago
St Johns Wort contains an MAOI. I don't think this herb should be taken without understanding that, and what an MAOI is, and what MAOIs interact with (SSRIs, and badly. Personal experience with that. Can be a hospital job, with death as a possible outcome though I believe that's rare). FYI
- slv77 4y ago
  It can also cause cataracts (https://news.fordham.edu/science/st-johns-wort-and-sun-dont-mix/ https://news.fordham.edu/science/st-johns-wort-and-sun-dont-...)
mikae1 4y ago
> Has anyone found a tea that is suitable for drinking (say) 1L per day of? How about actual tea from the tea plant (camellia sinensis)? Try green, white or yellow tea.
- roundandround 4y ago
  Green teas are really quite safe and pretty low in caffeine, but even black tea with Bergamot is apparently pretty safe until you are drinking 4L a day.
tmtvl 4y ago
Hōjicha is pretty good.

unshavedyak 4y ago

> and assume they have zero physiological effects whatsoever, as though cannabis and coffee don't exist, which I think is also mistaken. Sidenote on your rant, i imagine i generally agree with you but it feels unfair to compare Cannabis or Coffee to other, very likely mild, herbal remedies. I doubt most of the people you nitpick in that section would debate any herbal remedies that have as immediate and observable affects as that of Coffee or Cannabis. Eg, i don't discount that herbal can be immensely helpful - but it's not something i tend to reach for because i cannot easily make sense between what is a scam and what is real. I don't have this issue with coffee in the slightest because the effect is nearly impossible to miss. Combine that with a healthy dose of confirmation bias that we all have and frankly i have no clue how to tell which herbal remedies are actually helpful and which aren't - from my observations at least. I can only read studies or w/e and make an effort to consume X thing under Y condition.

newaccount74 4y ago
Comfrey is a herbal medicine with a strong effect. It's a pain relief drug and used to be the go-to medicine for bone fractures. Unfortunately it's also toxic to the liver. There are salves based on comfrey where they remove the toxic parts, and I've used them myself. I was sceptical at first that a herbal based remedy would do anything, but for lack of a better option I tried it, and it actually worked.
illiac786 4y ago
>I don't have this issue with coffee in the slightest because the effect is nearly impossible to miss. The problem is not missing the effect, it's missing (long term) side effects. And even large scale pharmaceutical studies miss them (you could debate if it's intentional in some cases) so it's really hard.

tromp 4y ago

I drink one cup of zoethout tea [1] every day with lunch, as I enjoy the taste. That's 2 grams of tea, 82% of which is zoethout wortel (liquorice root). Should I worry about any bad long term effects, or would that be considered a safe consumption level? [1] https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi106666/ah-kruiden-zoethout-thee https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi106666/ah-kruiden-zoet...

washadjeffmad 4y ago
You can always bring it up to your doctor, but if your panels are normal and your BP is stable, there's likely no issue. It's a good idea to regularly monitor your blood pressure, regardless, since it's a good indicator of impending and active health conditions. I've got to monitor both potassium and BP, so I'd notice a change in trend before my yearly physical.