“Tea is dehydrating, so if you want a hot drink then go for herbal tea instead.”  I know: I nearly spilled my Travel Mug and spat out my tea when a speaker from the fitness industry made this bold statement.  I bit my lip and wondered whether I should interrupt when the next claim was made:

“If you really need to drink a cup of tea, make sure you drink a glass of water to rehydrate yourself.”

Wah??? Right! That does it!!

Go ahead, get hydrated!

Go ahead, get hydrated!

But as a Brit, I’m used to keeping that stiff upper lip (and moan to my hubbie when I get home) and growing up in a Chinese household, my parents encouraged us to avoid conflict at all costs.  Conflicted between my British and Chinese upbringing, I finally raised my hand ever so gingerly.  “Yes?” boomed the speaker.   I politely informed the speaker and the audience that contrary to popular belief, tea is not dehydrating and can actually contribute to the daily two litres of fluid intake that the speaker was recommending.  In fact studies have backed this hydrating claim although if people are really worried about caffeine in tea, they can limit their intake to eight cups a day.   This is something I often mention in my tea talks.

So, I said my piece, and it was clear the speaker wasn’t going to be swayed and, as I didn’t want to interrupt the speaker any further, I bit my lip and kept schtum.  I had a private chat with the speaker later which was somewhat challenging, but I did manage to persuade the speaker on one thing.  Any beverage that is not derived from the Camellia Sinensis bush is not a tea and ought to be referred to as herbal infusions or tisanes.  Dispelling myths about tea is a huge challenge bu,t cup by cup, tea talk by tea talk, my mission is making sure we’re on the right page when it comes to tea.

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