Friday, March 7, 2008

avoiding coffee and tea

There are several reasons for fibroid shrinkers to avoid coffee and black tea. First is the caffeine, which is a burden on the liver. Second, they contain compounds called methyl-xanthines which promote fibroid growth (these compounds are in chocolate and colas too, so they need to be avoided also!). Also, drinking tea with a meal can interfere with iron absorption, and we fibroid shrinkers need our iron.

As I've written about elsewhere in this blog, as a substitute for coffee and black tea I have been drinking herb teas such as chrysanthemum, pau d'arco and dandelion root. However, sometimes I want something that tastes more, shall I say, fun.

So I picked up one of my old favorites, Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Hazelnut Dessert Tea. The two main ingredients are roasted carob and roasted chicory, which effectively emulate the coffee/black tea flavor. Then ingredient number 3 is milk thistle, which is often listed as an herbal remedy for fibroids due to its tonic effect on the liver. So this tea is a way to work in some milk thistle in a delicious form. There is also a little cinnamon, which as mentioned in a precious post is a good herb for fibroids.

This tea isn't completely perfect. On the downside, this tea does contain a bit of gluten (due to roasted barley which is the 4th ingredient), a bit of soy lecithin in the natural flavors, and licorice and anise seed which are both estrogenic however they are on the last line of the ingredients and the tea does not taste of them strongly. But for me at least I think that having a tea I enjoy drinking as a treat that also contains some milk thistle and cinnamon overall comes out on the plus side. I'm not going to drink huge quantities every day, but it does satisfy that craving for me...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Njoying this blog as I'm employing many of the same strategies. I totally love this Vanilla Hazelnut tea...never saw it broken down like this before *smile*...blessings to U :)!

Fibroid Shrinker said...

Thanks so much, so glad you are enjoying the blog!
I hope the strategies are working for you!

Anonymous said...

Caffeinated tea is my biggest weakness.

Thank you for the details about all of the reasons that it is bad for those of us trying to shrink fibroids.

Fibroid Shrinker said...

You're welcome!

Unknown said...

Pls can fibroid patient drink lipton during pregnancy

Fibroid Shrinker said...

Justin Eva, please do ask your physician about that.