Seven Cups Tea Forum » Seven Cups Tea Forum

Stomach Reaction

(7 posts)

  1. fpfaff
    Member

    It's been 6 or 7 weeks now since I switched from coffee to oolong tea, drinking about 12 ounces with breakfast, then little to none through the rest of the day. I noticed right away that my stomach felt very acidic an hour or so after breakfast, but I figured it would just take a while to adjust to the difference. It hasn't though. When I get that level of heartburn I must either eat something or gobble antacid tablets. Of the two, I generally choose the food option, so that by now, believe it or not, I've gained about 3-4 lbs since switching to tea! Believe me, I don't need extra weight. Aside from this, though, I feel much better with tea than I did with coffee.
    Does this strike a cord w/ anyone? Does oolong tea cause this effect more than, say, black tea? Any remedies?
    I'm going to try drinking a bit of milk before the tea to see if that helps, but I'd be very grateful for any thoughts, advice or suggestions.

    - Fred Pfaff

    Posted 4 months ago #

  2. kerne
    Member

    Teas (but not all tisanes/herbals) are actually a little alkaline. That along with the astringency of greener preparations can cause GI upset. You didn't say what kind of oolong you've been drinking, but I'd guess it's a lighter roast/oxidized one.

    If green teas and lighter roast oolongs tend bother your stomach, stick to higer roasted oolongs and black/red teas. And of course, never drink tea on an empty stomach which you said you don't. I would stick to foods with a neutral pH (non-acidic) with your morning tea. Few common foods are significantly alkaline.

    Posted 4 months ago #

  3. fpfaff
    Member

    The Shui Jin Gui & Dan Cong oolongs seem to give me the most trouble. Tie Guan Yin has little effect, strangely. You mention astringency -- does that mean that tannins cause the problem? How? Is it the alkalinity itself that prompts excessive stomach acid producton?
    I drank a lot of black tea this past Saturday and had little trouble, but I love the oolongs. Maybe I'll have a strictly dark oolong week and see what happens.
    Thanks for you response, Kerne.

    - FP

    Posted 4 months ago #

  4. admin
    Seven Cups

    The general guidelines according to Chinese medicine is the more oxidized the tea the better for digestion. I think that the majority of complains about stomach issues usually come from drinking too much green tea.

    For me personally I like to drink green teas in the morning and then switch to oolongs, black tea, or puer as the days goes on and I need more help with digestion. My stomach is usually pretty good in the morning. For an acidic stomach puer is certainly the best.

    Dan Cong Oolong is pretty strong tea, a lot coming some very old tea bushes. The Chao Zhou people are big eaters, and probably most don't eat a small breakfast. I wonder what you are eating?

    Austin

    Posted 4 months ago #

  5. fpfaff
    Member

    I've been eating a very light breakfast -- banana, fruit, almonds. I added some granola w/ milk to that mix this morning and felt much better. The tea was Tie Luo Han.

    I think the other aspect is heat and volume. It's actually 18 oz of hot tea I drink w/ breakfast (3 6oz gong fu pots) w/o milk. That's a harsh wakeup call to the tummy. I'm cooling the tea now by pouring it into a second, cool cup, and maybe I'll cut out the 3rd pot, but that would be unfortunate.

    I have to say, though, that aside from this stomach thing I feel much lighter and smoother than I did when drinking coffee. There's something heavy about coffee that I came to dislike.

    You mention very old tea bushes. I have to ask how that fits in -- interesting angle.

    Thanks very much for your response.

    - FP

    Posted 4 months ago #

  6. admin
    Seven Cups

    That does sound like a light breakfast compared to the amount of tea. The Chinese think that bananas are tough to digest.

    I think that some of the older bushes can create some strong tea, certainly, but there are also bushes that have gone wild in some places in those mountains, which can have some unanticipated affects on the stomach, according to the local people. I am talking about Dan Chongs not rock oolongs.

    My hunch is that it is more you breakfast than the tea. I hope you feel better.

    Austin

    Posted 4 months ago #

  7. fpfaff
    Member

    I've bulked up my breakfast a bit and eliminated my morning snack (hobbit's second breakfast!), and that seems to be doing the trick. So I'm sure you're right.

    Thanks, Austin, for your thoughts & kind words.

    - Fred

    Posted 4 months ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.


View our site map »