3 ms·

Not sure that there is anything interesting to be drawn from a singular anecdote that includes no conclusive medical analysis, but regardless of the type or bra

Not sure that there is anything interesting to be drawn from a singular anecdote that includes no conclusive medical analysis, but regardless of the type or brand of tea, drinking 4 liters of black tea per day doesn't exactly strike me as the healthiest lifestyle to begin with.

LeoPanthera 3y ago
I'm far from a medical expert, but I would imagine that large quantities of tea are less unhealthy than even small quantities of alcohol, or soda.
- Tainnor 3y ago
  Black tea contains caffeine and large amounts of caffeine are probably not very healthy. I assume he must have built up quite a tolerance but I would be on edge all day after such an amount.
  - LeoPanthera 3y ago
    Caffeine is one of the most studied substances that we consume and every time a new study happens they always find some new way that it is good for you. Obviously huge quantities of anything are bad, but caffeine has virtually no downsides.
    - dbspin 3y ago
      Responses to caffeine vary wildly, but personally I experience acute anxiety a couple of hours after even one cup. It took me many years as a regular coke / tea / coffee drinker to figure out that was causing daily anxiety. I do wonder what proportion of people never make the link, although it seems prevalence of high sensitivity to caffeine is rare in the general population [1] [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242593/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242593/
      - Lazonedo 3y ago
        Responses vary by individual, and can vary by long term exposure too. I was hospitalized for a long time because of a very serious, bad case of mumps as an adult and in the hospital I was treated they were very serious about controlling my diet so I couldn't drink coffee for a long while. When I recovered and went back home, I started drinking the same amount of coffee I was used to, which normally wouldn't make me feel anything out of the ordinary, but because I had not been exposed to caffeine for a while, I ended up with a severe feeling of tingling in my limbs, the level of stimulation really shocked me. After a month and half (possibly a little more, I'm fuzzy on the passing of days during those times) of not drinking coffee, it was as if I had been a new coffee drinker again and my body forgot caffeine. Habitual, daily exposure can /strongly/ affect the amount of caffeine it will take for you to feel its presence at a symptomatic level, and abstaining from caffeine for a long enough period can also completely throw you back to the beginning stage.
- kansface 3y ago
  Lots of people who drink a glass of wine a day live to 100.
  - LeifCarrotson 3y ago
    And lots of people who drink 4L of wine a day are dysfunctional alcoholics who die early of liver or heart failure or various other causes. Neither a glass of tea nor a glass of wine will kill you, but excessive consumption of just about anything can.
- refulgentis 3y ago
  Outside your expertise, I know, but curious for further thoughts on: if large quantities of tea being better than small quantities of alcohol obviates the observation that large quantities of tea aren't likely to be healthy
- Lazonedo 3y ago
  Large quantities of any liquid can be fatal, that includes water, because that one can easily cause hyponatremia (deficit of sodium in blood). > Hyponatremia is the most common type of electrolyte imbalance, and is often found in older adults.[11][12] It occurs in about 20% of those admitted to hospital and 10% of people during or after an endurance sporting event.[3][5] Among those in hospital, hyponatremia is associated with an increased risk of death.[5] The economic costs of hyponatremia are estimated at $2.6 billion per annum in the United States A woman made the headlines once for dying in a contest that involved drinking absurd amounts of water in the shortest time. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ten-fired-after-radio-contest-tragedy/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ten-fired-after-radio-contest-t... The amount? two gallons, so around 7.5 liters of water. Now, spaced around an entire day (rather than in under an hour), it's unlikely to immediately kill you, but even 4 liters of anything is going to be damaging to your health long term wise. Alcohol certainly isn't good for you even in small amounts, but neither is drinking a lot of water, tea, coffee, soda or anything else. The human body was not made to process large amount of anything every day of the week. There is no such a thing as a substance that is "healthy" to "abuse". Unfortunately, there are too many who believe the contrary (as evidenced by the post talking about the guy drinking humongous amounts of green tea to "detox" his body) The desire to continuously stimulate the senses through binge drinking things (which can sometimes be water, many have damaged their body by drinking excessive amounts on a daily basis) or binge eating, well, that's a mental illness in the making.
magospietato 3y ago
...drinking 4 liters of black tea per day doesn't exactly strike me as the healthiest lifestyle to begin with. I'm going to assume you're not British then.
- bpye 3y ago
  Checking the volume of my go-to mug… I’m not far off that 4L/day. Definitely 3.
gumby 3y ago
This seems quite plausible to me. My teen aged diet consisted of about that much black tea (English Breakfast, mainly) and buttered toast with Vegemite. I stopped when my mum (a physician) pointed out that the number of tea leaves I was consuming (not deliberately, but casually) would probably cause oesophageal cancer. Perhaps she merely wanted me to vary my diet.
- thfuran 3y ago
  There is not, as far as I know, any link to esophageal cancer particular to tea, but regularly consuming hot beverages is associated with higher rates of esophageal cancer.
  - reducesuffering 3y ago
    Isn't that only very hot (scalding) beverages like Argentinian smoked mate though? And there's evidence that smoked mate causes esophageal cancer, so have we even isolated that it's just the very hot part of mate? I haven't seen evidence of typical tea/coffee temperature beverages causing esophageal cancer.
    - thfuran 3y ago
      There are studies from multiple countries around the world linking locally consumed hot beverages to higher rates of esophageal cancer. Certainly it's nothing like smoking in terms of risk or it would be much more obvious. But maybe there's something to it. Or maybe there are too many studies looking at every possible thing related to cancer and science is p hacking itself and these sorts of results tend to get widely publicized.
- BadHumans 3y ago
  I don't remember how strong it is but there is evidence that consuming hot liquid, in the range of the temp to steep black tea, can contribute to esophageal cancer, So if you're pounding hot tea all day, it may be a concern.
nritchie 3y ago
Of all the beverages to drink, black tea is one of the most benign (usually.) Low calories and moderate amounts of caffeine (compared to coffee or many sodas). For me, tea makes water palatable - black tea with a little milk, no sugar. Fortunately, with the amount I drink, I don't like earl gray :-)
- blauditore 3y ago
  Well, any tea/infusion without caffeine is probably better, especially when consumed in high amounts. Without sweetening it, it's really close to just "water with taste".
bunderbunder 3y ago
Case study != epidemiological studies != RCTs, but they all have their place in the scientific process. Many interesting scientific discoveries started with an interesting case study.
calibas 3y ago
We're not sure exactly what happened, it's a mystery, which I'd argue is inherently interesting. And not just because of human emotions, but also because of the possibility of scientific advancement. It could be there's something unique in this case, some chemical in Earl Grey isn't being properly metabolized and that's causing the issues. Investigating further could lead to some advancement in biochemistry. In my opinion, the chances are quite small for this to lead to any significant scientific advancement, but even so, it's still worth investigating.

LeoPanthera 3y ago

I'm far from a medical expert, but I would imagine that large quantities of tea are less unhealthy than even small quantities of alcohol, or soda.

Tainnor 3y ago
Black tea contains caffeine and large amounts of caffeine are probably not very healthy. I assume he must have built up quite a tolerance but I would be on edge all day after such an amount.
- LeoPanthera 3y ago
  Caffeine is one of the most studied substances that we consume and every time a new study happens they always find some new way that it is good for you. Obviously huge quantities of anything are bad, but caffeine has virtually no downsides.
  - dbspin 3y ago
    Responses to caffeine vary wildly, but personally I experience acute anxiety a couple of hours after even one cup. It took me many years as a regular coke / tea / coffee drinker to figure out that was causing daily anxiety. I do wonder what proportion of people never make the link, although it seems prevalence of high sensitivity to caffeine is rare in the general population [1] [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242593/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242593/
    - Lazonedo 3y ago
      Responses vary by individual, and can vary by long term exposure too. I was hospitalized for a long time because of a very serious, bad case of mumps as an adult and in the hospital I was treated they were very serious about controlling my diet so I couldn't drink coffee for a long while. When I recovered and went back home, I started drinking the same amount of coffee I was used to, which normally wouldn't make me feel anything out of the ordinary, but because I had not been exposed to caffeine for a while, I ended up with a severe feeling of tingling in my limbs, the level of stimulation really shocked me. After a month and half (possibly a little more, I'm fuzzy on the passing of days during those times) of not drinking coffee, it was as if I had been a new coffee drinker again and my body forgot caffeine. Habitual, daily exposure can /strongly/ affect the amount of caffeine it will take for you to feel its presence at a symptomatic level, and abstaining from caffeine for a long enough period can also completely throw you back to the beginning stage.
kansface 3y ago
Lots of people who drink a glass of wine a day live to 100.
- LeifCarrotson 3y ago
  And lots of people who drink 4L of wine a day are dysfunctional alcoholics who die early of liver or heart failure or various other causes. Neither a glass of tea nor a glass of wine will kill you, but excessive consumption of just about anything can.
refulgentis 3y ago
Outside your expertise, I know, but curious for further thoughts on: if large quantities of tea being better than small quantities of alcohol obviates the observation that large quantities of tea aren't likely to be healthy
Lazonedo 3y ago
Large quantities of any liquid can be fatal, that includes water, because that one can easily cause hyponatremia (deficit of sodium in blood). > Hyponatremia is the most common type of electrolyte imbalance, and is often found in older adults.[11][12] It occurs in about 20% of those admitted to hospital and 10% of people during or after an endurance sporting event.[3][5] Among those in hospital, hyponatremia is associated with an increased risk of death.[5] The economic costs of hyponatremia are estimated at $2.6 billion per annum in the United States A woman made the headlines once for dying in a contest that involved drinking absurd amounts of water in the shortest time. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ten-fired-after-radio-contest-tragedy/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ten-fired-after-radio-contest-t... The amount? two gallons, so around 7.5 liters of water. Now, spaced around an entire day (rather than in under an hour), it's unlikely to immediately kill you, but even 4 liters of anything is going to be damaging to your health long term wise. Alcohol certainly isn't good for you even in small amounts, but neither is drinking a lot of water, tea, coffee, soda or anything else. The human body was not made to process large amount of anything every day of the week. There is no such a thing as a substance that is "healthy" to "abuse". Unfortunately, there are too many who believe the contrary (as evidenced by the post talking about the guy drinking humongous amounts of green tea to "detox" his body) The desire to continuously stimulate the senses through binge drinking things (which can sometimes be water, many have damaged their body by drinking excessive amounts on a daily basis) or binge eating, well, that's a mental illness in the making.

magospietato 3y ago

...drinking 4 liters of black tea per day doesn't exactly strike me as the healthiest lifestyle to begin with. I'm going to assume you're not British then.

bpye 3y ago
Checking the volume of my go-to mug… I’m not far off that 4L/day. Definitely 3.

gumby 3y ago

This seems quite plausible to me. My teen aged diet consisted of about that much black tea (English Breakfast, mainly) and buttered toast with Vegemite. I stopped when my mum (a physician) pointed out that the number of tea leaves I was consuming (not deliberately, but casually) would probably cause oesophageal cancer. Perhaps she merely wanted me to vary my diet.

thfuran 3y ago
There is not, as far as I know, any link to esophageal cancer particular to tea, but regularly consuming hot beverages is associated with higher rates of esophageal cancer.
- reducesuffering 3y ago
  Isn't that only very hot (scalding) beverages like Argentinian smoked mate though? And there's evidence that smoked mate causes esophageal cancer, so have we even isolated that it's just the very hot part of mate? I haven't seen evidence of typical tea/coffee temperature beverages causing esophageal cancer.
  - thfuran 3y ago
    There are studies from multiple countries around the world linking locally consumed hot beverages to higher rates of esophageal cancer. Certainly it's nothing like smoking in terms of risk or it would be much more obvious. But maybe there's something to it. Or maybe there are too many studies looking at every possible thing related to cancer and science is p hacking itself and these sorts of results tend to get widely publicized.
BadHumans 3y ago
I don't remember how strong it is but there is evidence that consuming hot liquid, in the range of the temp to steep black tea, can contribute to esophageal cancer, So if you're pounding hot tea all day, it may be a concern.

nritchie 3y ago

Of all the beverages to drink, black tea is one of the most benign (usually.) Low calories and moderate amounts of caffeine (compared to coffee or many sodas). For me, tea makes water palatable - black tea with a little milk, no sugar. Fortunately, with the amount I drink, I don't like earl gray :-)

blauditore 3y ago
Well, any tea/infusion without caffeine is probably better, especially when consumed in high amounts. Without sweetening it, it's really close to just "water with taste".

bunderbunder 3y ago

Case study != epidemiological studies != RCTs, but they all have their place in the scientific process. Many interesting scientific discoveries started with an interesting case study.

calibas 3y ago

We're not sure exactly what happened, it's a mystery, which I'd argue is inherently interesting. And not just because of human emotions, but also because of the possibility of scientific advancement. It could be there's something unique in this case, some chemical in Earl Grey isn't being properly metabolized and that's causing the issues. Investigating further could lead to some advancement in biochemistry. In my opinion, the chances are quite small for this to lead to any significant scientific advancement, but even so, it's still worth investigating.