Eating Tea

Nutrition
1

I have a few questions about eating tea.
I found that certain teas tatse great dry right out of the tea bag- not wet after being brewed in water- as some people eat it wet like that. I am talking about taking a dry tea bag out of the box, tearing it open, pouring the dry contents into a bowl, and eating it (not the bag- the tea!).

My favorites are blueberry, raspberry, and vanilla. I’m not trying to drop name brands, but celestial seasonings have the best tasting teas raw. Some green teas are awesome as well. I know it might sound strange, but it’s like candy.
Here are my questions;

  1. even though tea- the ones I use- have no calories/carbs, would they have carbs eaten dry out of the bag? I do cycle my carbs, but just in case tea may convert to carbs, I use them on my high carb days for a treat

  2. can there be health benefits from having it, what I consider- raw- like this? The teas I like raw are the fruit teas, vanilla, black, and green. Cammomile is great, but it’s a bit strong- where if you plan on sleeping in- it’s fine, but all too relaxing. Some green teas give too much energy- even tohough it’s cafein free.

Well, I thank anyone for any information on this. I have been trying to find answers, before indulging in my new-found treat. Of course I enjoy a hot cup of tea, but eating it raw- it’s become me new favorite thing.

2

im sorry but i think this is really funny. yet interesting… sorta in the same way.

i never thought of someone actually eating the tea raw…

maybe i oughta try it.
i dont know how the health benefits differ though. im sure they do.

3

#1 yes they will have some carbs mainly fiber like eateing grass or other leaves.

#2 yes probably even moreso.

4

One thing to keep in mind though is this; tea manufacturers make their product with the mind set that consumers will not be ingesting the tea as is, but rather first placing it in near boiling hot water. Boiling hot water can most certainly kill-off most microbes and other bad guys that will be in the tea. They know this, and can therefore cut costs with regards to health precautions and screening. Keep in mind that these teas are also often porduced in third world contries where there is diseases galore.

5

[quote]Soldierslim wrote:
One thing to keep in mind though is this; tea manufacturers make their product with the mind set that consumers will not be ingesting the tea as is, but rather first placing it in near boiling hot water. Boiling hot water can most certainly kill-off most microbes and other bad guys that will be in the tea. They know this, and can therefore cut costs with regards to health precautions and screening. Keep in mind that these teas are also often porduced in third world contries where there is diseases galore.[/quote]

I don’t think they would take that chance considering that anyone could easily be in a hurry, or impatient and not heat up their water enough to kill the deseases or bacteria, and that would quickly lead to a lawsuit.

6

This is interesting, definately thinking outside the box. But what ever made you eat tea in the first place?

7

[quote]Soldierslim wrote:
One thing to keep in mind though is this; tea manufacturers make their product with the mind set that consumers will not be ingesting the tea as is, but rather first placing it in near boiling hot water. Boiling hot water can most certainly kill-off most microbes and other bad guys that will be in the tea. They know this, and can therefore cut costs with regards to health precautions and screening. Keep in mind that these teas are also often porduced in third world contries where there is diseases galore.[/quote]

Microwave the tea packet before eating it to irradiate the bacteria… :slight_smile:

8

[quote]SWR-1222D wrote:
Soldierslim wrote:
One thing to keep in mind though is this; tea manufacturers make their product with the mind set that consumers will not be ingesting the tea as is, but rather first placing it in near boiling hot water. Boiling hot water can most certainly kill-off most microbes and other bad guys that will be in the tea. They know this, and can therefore cut costs with regards to health precautions and screening. Keep in mind that these teas are also often porduced in third world contries where there is diseases galore.

I don’t think they would take that chance considering that anyone could easily be in a hurry, or impatient and not heat up their water enough to kill the deseases or bacteria, and that would quickly lead to a lawsuit.[/quote]

Possibly, but I live by this saying: “noone looks out for you like you do”. My tea water gets boiled every single time. Either on the stove or I nuke it for just over 2 minutes.

9

[quote]Soldierslim wrote:
Possibly, but I live by this saying: “noone looks out for you like you do”. My tea water gets boiled every single time. Either on the stove or I nuke it for just over 2 minutes.[/quote]

Good point, and good philosophy to live by.

10

[quote]miko wrote:
This is interesting, definately thinking outside the box. But what ever made you eat tea in the first place?
[/quote]

I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m guessing it’s just an unstoppable urge some people have. He chose to eat tea, others choose to devour an entire bananna (and peel).

11

I actually do this sometimes but not w/ herbal teas.

To make my oatmeal and protein shakes even healthier I add a TSP or so of “Matcha” green tea. It is a powdered green tea that is supposed to be mixed straight into the beverage and not steeped.

Supposedly it is even more healthful then normal green tea b/c you are eating the whole leaf.

Mixed w/ protein and stuff I cannot taste it. I am always trying to find ways like this of making my meals more healthy

12

I started eating the tea because boiled and cooked, it doesn’t have as much flavor, and I am trying to give up on using splenda, because I was going through a box of 700 each week, and I thought I should find other sources to get that quick sweet fix without giving up on carbs and calories- because I rather use my calories and carbs towards actual meals and not stupid treats.

I do cycle my carbs- and in fact- carb cycling was one of the best habits I stared. Everything- my body and mind improved 100%. I can make it through the no carb days with ease, but sometimes I get that craving for sweet- and for a while there I was just brushing my teeth with crest flavors- vanilla, lemon, citruis, but I was brushing my teeth so much for that flavor- I burned my mouth out.

I started drinking tea for flavor, but it didn’t give me that kick, so I was like - let’s see- they smell better uncooked, let’s try eating this…and wow what a treat, but at what cost? I thought Splenda was the answer to my sweets, until I saw some fattening side effects.

As for me- I rtaher eat something rather than drink somehting- I eat my protein powders, i eat the creatine, and glutamine, I chew my multi vitamins. I just like to take my time and bite and chew things rather than swallow them, and enjoy things as they are whole-

I do eat banana peels, but not the whole things, because I can’t find out how many calories/carbs are in them. I also enjoy orange peel, grapefruit peel, even certain seeds taste good to me.

I just don’t have much of them, because I do count all my fats/carbs/protein/calories, so if I am eating an orange I’ll take a few bites of the skin. If I knew the nutrient value, then I’d be able to factor everything in and enjoy my fruits/vegetables whole and raw. That’s just what I like.

This looked like a knowlegable site, so I thought I’d try and ask. I’ll just look at this as another one of my experiments and see what hapens in a month. Hell I don’t mind…so far it’s been 2 weeks since i tried eating tea, and to be honest I feel good.

I am not sure what it’s doing to my insides, but I do feel a little different in a calm, but happy state. Maybe I “discovered” something- or maybe I’m crazy lol. Whatever the case- I am trying to find the actual nutritional information in raw dry tea…then at least when I plan my meals out I know if i should put them in or leave them as empty calories that don’t count as anything.

That’sall for now.

13

Isn’t it necessary to put the tea bags in hot water in order to extract some of the benefits?

14

[quote]frisbee wrote:
Isn’t it necessary to put the tea bags in hot water in order to extract some of the benefits?[/quote]

who knows- all I know is a lot of them taste better raw, and if I am going for taste- I’m having it raw

15

  1. DON’T microwave tea - it’ll kill the antioxidants.

  2. Green tea does have caffeine. (Black tea has caffeine, and black tea comes from green tea - it’s just been roasted).

  3. any net carbs you got from tea would be negligible, and probably not from the tea but perhaps from other additives in the tea… But I wouldn’t worry about that. However eating tea leaves in that kind of volume could be problematic in other ways. For example, that’s a lot of caffeine. Tea also tends to be high in fluoride, which is basically toxic when ingested.

16

I am bumping this thread because I was sitting around thinking, “Could I just eat my green tea instead of brewing it?” I fugured some crazy bastard here on T-Nation would have thought the same thing…

I have this bag of Gunpowder Green Tea, which just means the leaves are rolled up into tight little nuggets, which then unravel as they brew (you get a LOT of tea from just a pinch of the little nuggets). Anyway, I was thinking how easy it would be to just throw a teaspoon of them in my mouth and drink them down like little pills.

The question remains: will I get all the benefits, more benefits, less because the tea needs to be brewed to get the anti-oxidants, etc?

Thanks in advance, and its good to know I’m not the only one thinking about this.

17

[quote]swordthrower wrote:
I am bumping this thread because I was sitting around thinking, “Could I just eat my green tea instead of brewing it?” I fugured some crazy bastard here on T-Nation would have thought the same thing…

I have this bag of Gunpowder Green Tea, which just means the leaves are rolled up into tight little nuggets, which then unravel as they brew (you get a LOT of tea from just a pinch of the little nuggets). Anyway, I was thinking how easy it would be to just throw a teaspoon of them in my mouth and drink them down like little pills.

The question remains: will I get all the benefits, more benefits, less because the tea needs to be brewed to get the anti-oxidants, etc?

Thanks in advance, and its good to know I’m not the only one thinking about this.[/quote]

Thats the same tea I use and sure I dont see why you would not get the benefit. Maybe not all of it but onje would think most would be released and heck possibly more and a nice lil dose of fiber.