Does Drinking Tea Help with the Coronavirus?
No, drinking tea does not help with preventing or curing the Coronavirus, despite what you may have heard on social media. While tea has many health benefits, it’s not a magic solution to viral infections.
In this article, we’ll go over the common myths about drinking tea and how it helps prevent COVID-19.
Tea and COVID-19 – Confronting the Myth
There are many myths circulating right now about COVID-19 and one suggests that tea will help prevent or cure the coronavirus. In fact, here’s the very post that’s been misleading people:
This post, which is circulating through social media platforms, has been fact-checked and proved wrong.
It states that Dr. Li Wenliang – the whistleblower doctor in Wuhan, China (where the virus outbreak began): Posted on social media saying that certain chemicals in tea helped prevent the coronavirus and that he had hospital staff serving tea 3 times a day to patients in hopes that it would help.
But… He wasn’t a virus specialist. He was an eye doctor and there were no real scientific studies being done or any proof that he actually suggested any of this. In fact, there’s no real proof that tea has any impact on the COVID-19 virus so spreading this kind of information is incorrect not to mention irresponsible.
Put Simply:
Tea hasn’t been proven to prevent or cure COVID-19 and telling people that it can is dangerous. While most of us know that tea is healthy and is filled with many antioxidants and nutrients it’s important to remember that tea is not a medicine.
With that being said – tea DOES have some antiviral properties which could potentially HELP lead to some discoveries on how to treat viruses including the Coronavirus. Now we’ll get to some real facts about tea’s antiviral properties.
Facts About Tea and Viruses?
Tea hasn’t been proven to prevent or help with COVID-19 but there’s some hard scientific evidence suggesting that compounds in the tea plant have antiviral properties that may help combat coronavirus.
Before I get too deep into the facts: I am not a doctor, I’m a tea drinker so you should probably consult a doctor if you have any urgent worries about preventing the coronavirus. Before going over that facts let’s go over how a virus works.
How Does a Virus Work?
A virus is a small infectious microbe composed of genetic material (RNA or DNA) and is surrounded by a shell. Viruses need a living host to replicate so when a virus enters the host cell it takes over and starts reproducing itself.
Then more cells become infected as the cycle continues and can then be passed on to other living creatures. The living organism’s immune system usually tries to fight off a virus - which is why humans get fevers. But before an immune system fights off the virus (if it can) the virus can be spread to others, usually unknowingly.
Tea’s Antiviral Properties
Again, I’m not a doctor or a scientist but I’ve found some solid scientific evidence that proves tea contains antiviral properties. This does not mean tea prevents viruses from making you sick! It means the plant produces compounds that have antiviral properties.
One of the coolest things about tea is that it’s loaded with healthy properties. The tea plant – Camellia Sinensis – is full of Polyphenols including…
Catechins
Theaflavins
Tannins
And flavonoids
Essentially these are just compounds that offer health benefits.
Recent Studies
Scientists have been studying some of these polyphenols and their antiviral impacts on different viruses and some data even suggest that polyphenols (or health-promoting compounds) can increase your immunity against viral infection. A study done by Japanese Scientists showed that drinking the equivalent of 10 cups of green tea per day (with one cup being 200ml) reduced the presence of influenza symptoms by 32.2 percent.
Additionally, this study showed some catechins in tea may inhibit, or block, the absorption of the influenza virus which is usually a kind of coronavirus. The catechins or block the interaction of a virus with a cell membrane when it attempts to invade a cell. But unfortunately, Catechins in tea do not make good drugs.
At least right now, because these compounds are sometimes unstable. Just like in tea, they oxidize or transform into another compound. Meaning they may not function the same way in all bodies or in predictable ways needed for widespread use in a drug.
Back to COVID-19
So what does this have to do with COVID-19? It suggests that these compounds could potentially help scientists figure out new ways to combat these viruses and future viruses. However it doesn’t suggest that drinking tea will provide these benefits. Tea won’t cure you - just like eating one apple won’t make you healthy (but eating an apple a day over time, likely provides health benefits.)
But all this research could help scientists further their fight against COVID-19 and other viruses. Taiwanese scientists have discovered that theaflavin (another polyphenol in tea) Shows antiviral activity against multiple viruses including SARS‐CoV‐2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.
Their research suggests that theaflavin could be used as a leading compound in the development of a SARS‐CoV‐2 inhibitor but more research still needs to be done.
Then Why Doesn’t Tea Prevent the Coronavirus?
As you saw in form the studies above, tea has multiple antiviral properties - so it should help prevent COVID-19, right?
In theory, it should, but It’s not that simple. Antiviral properties in tea are naturally occurring and they’re unstable, meaning they may not function how we want them to or react the same way in every person.
So there’s no way to guarantee that drinking tea will deliver enough antiviral properties to stop a virus from taking over a cell. Not to mention the amount of polyphenols differs depending on the kind and quality of the tea. Drinking tea may not be the best way to consume the antiviral properties in tea.
What Should I Do to Prevent COVID-19?
If you’re looking for ways to protect yourself from the coronavirus start by looking at the CDC guidelines, here. The two simplest ways to protect yourself are:
Wash your hand regularly
Avoid close contact with other people
Drinking tea is a healthy way to destress during these uncertain times but it’s not a cure or preventative measure.
Spilling the Tea
As you can see from the data, tea holds many powerful antiviral compounds. Does it mean that tea is the magic potion that will cure disease or COVID-19?
No.
But it’s clear that it could give scientists some insight into which compounds they can study in their fight against viruses. It’s best not to get caught up in drinking tea as a medicine. It’s healthy and beneficial but it’s not a reliable, stable, or smart way to protect yourself from viruses or other illnesses.
How COVID-19 Affected the Tea Industry
Oh, one more quick thing, we put together an article on how COVID-19 affected the Tea Industry here. It’s a useful read to get an inside perspective tea production.
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