Hello, all, I have just seen an interesting turn of events in a patient who has in the last few months started to drink a goodly amount of tea for "health" reasons (self-prescribed). I have always been an advocate of the benefits of tea drinking; however, this fellow did go a little overboard and has been consuming 2/3 liters daily of pu-erh or oolong, primarily and a bit of Earl Grey. It seems his B1 levels have dropped considerably. After doing some of research and speaking with colleagues, we discovered that tea consumption in this amount can support B1 deficiency. This is important particularly for congestive heart disease patients and those whom consume alcohol (too much) since these folks tend to need more B1 and both conditions can also lead to dificiency. Just a note that if you do choose to drink copious amounts of this wonderful stuff, watch your B vitamins (eat your whole grains). These is meant to be a suggestion and not a substition for medical advice. Shen
- posted
17 years ago