The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1900-08-02
Tea Tipping.

Tea Tipping.
From an editorial on the above topic
in Good Health we make the following
extract:
The fact that when a person drinks
strong tea and coffee the sense of hum
ger is allayed, has given rise to the idea
that tea and coffee are foods. They di-
minish the appetite for food simply by
diminishing the ability to digest it, They
are not foods because a person cannot
live upon them.
Carefully conducted experiments show
that the use of tea and coffee has a per-
nicious effect upon digestion because Of
the injurious substances they contain
II you take cup of strong tea and
stir it with an iron spoon, it soon be-
comes black; this is because Of the COM
bination of the tannin of the tea with
iron, a combination that makes ink.
Leather is made from soaking hides
In decoction of oak bark, which con-
tains tannin. The fannie acid combines
with the connective tissue of the hides
or skins, and this produces leather. So
when man eats a piece of beefsteak
and drinks cup of strong tea, the tan
mic acid of the tea combines with the
connective tissue of the steak, and it is
converted into leather
II one were to soak his beefsteak in a
cup of strong tea for half an hour, he
would find it impossible to chew it as to
chew sole leather.
Some writer's say that while tea him
ders the digestion of the albuminoids,
1t encourages that of starch.
The common use of tea and toast may
have led many people to hold this opin-
ion. Certainly it is very generally con-
sidered happy combination. But it is
a very unhappy one, for the starch of
the bread is rendered indigestible by
the tannin of the tea, which paralyzes
the salivary glands, thus hindering the
production of saliva.
The saliva digests the starch; without
saliva starch could not digest, and tea,
even in small quantities, paralyzes to
some extent the salivary glands
Not only is it true that tea and coffee
contain no nourishment and seriously
interfere with digestion, but it is true
also that they contain poisonous matter.
One proof Of this is that they will kill
animals.
Distil tea or coffee by placing it in a
dry retort, and a poison in it is crystal
lized in the form of needles, this poison
can be separated from tea or coffee by
various means. The amount of poison
GUS matten theine) contained in tea is
about six per cent, and in coffee about
one percent, the theme of tea and the
caffeine of coffee being the same thing.
One-eighth of a grain of theme or
caffeine will kill frog; five grains will
kill rabbit; and seven and half grains
will kill cat. There is more than an
ounce of poison in pound of tea,
enough to kill 70 rabbits or so cats.
There is another poison in tea besides
theme and tannin; it contains an arc
matte property, and essential Oil, and
this produces the excitement of the
nerves, which is the result Of drinking
tee.
The/Chinese women have little cups
about as big as a thimble, and they sip
from these several times day; but their
tea is SC weak that If it were served to
you, you would say there was no tea
about it. That sort of tea is compare
lively harmless; there is not enough
poison in it to produce any bad effect.
The use of tea and coffee is recognized
as one of the causes of the multiplying
of nervous diseases among the men and
women of America. I might give you
several instances of persons who have
rid themselves of sick headaches and
dyspepsia simply by abandoning the use
of ten and coffee.
We must conclude. then. that tea