Addiction
"This is a serious question Eva, are you addicted to tea? I hear people can get addicted...do you need help? First stage to recovery is admitting you are an addict."
"Being addicted to tea wouldn't be the worst thing"
-My latest tea-ware!! Just looking at it gives me all the joy, lol!
This was a very recent conversation with my favourite hater. He's exhausted with me pushing tea info his way, getting his circle of friends in on it and irritated that he's assimilating it too. All to my pleasure, of course. It was such a timely question as well because I've been thinking a lot about addiction lately.
One of my favourite artists is Jhene Aiko, and she recently dropped her album "Trip" which in my opinion is her most honest piece of work and her vulnerability transcends the sound. She takes us through a very introspective journey with psychedelics, not with a popularisation mission but rather revealing why they came into her life in line with what she was going through. Her work made me aware of how intricate addiction is. It can't simply be taken at face value; there are layers upon layers to addiction. It's the individual, the environment, the experience, the situation, the wallet and a lot of biology. It's not always about seeking pleasure as portrayed by pop culture. Sometimes it's running away, hiding, disregarding.
-The day I get my hands on a brewing tray, the world isn't ready!
To deal with my apparent problem (sense the denial already?), I'm gonna expound on how tea addiction may very well be a thing. The addictive component in tea is caffeine which we established is very present in different types of tea. Now caffeine doesn't typically come with a negative connotation probably because of how popular its consumption is, and how its effects aren't deemed the worst. Truth is, caffeine is a psychoactive drug! It's soluble in both water and fats thus able to pass through the blood-brain barrier where it can exert its effects while still touring our veins, blood, and cell membranes. This is the genesis of the addiction.
- I recently attended the Nairobi International Trade Fair and grabbed some orthodox, Kenyan Purple Tea
Let me take you through the mode of action. First off, caffeine has got a double ring chemical structure that is similar to adenosine, a molecule found in all cells of the body. Why am I just dropping adenosine on you? It's a central nervous system depressant promoting sleep and suppressing arousal. When you introduce caffeine to your system with its diplomatic visa, it's able to attach to adenosine receptors in the brain thus blocking adenosine out. Caffeine's' effects counter those of adenosine. It keeps you alert, energetic and stimulates your nervous system. Additionally, without adenosine, dopamine, a neurotransmitter, works more effectively. Dopamine has a role in our movement, mood, memory, attention, pleasure pain and more. It's described as the brains' feel-good chemical. So this combination of effects are what draws one to that second, third and twentieth cup of tea.
-The brewed purple tea
Just as with every addiction, there are withdrawal symptoms. Headaches, tiredness, irritability and muscle aches are commonly experienced. These go away soon after consumption.
To prevent or reduce the effects from this addiction, one can:
- lower the amount consumed by using one teabag for multiple cups
- shorten the steeping time
- lower the temperature of the water used in steeping to lower extraction
- slowly decrease the frequency of your tea drinking
- take decaffeinated options which maintain the taste of the tea just minus the jolt that comes with it
That said, life is too short for all this. I promote a full bodied tea with all its components intact. I'll just go back to my response with my number one hater.
"Being addicted to tea wouldn't be the worst thing"
*Sips tea*
x
The Ultimate Tea Girl
SOURCES
https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/is-coffee-and-tea-addiction-real.html
https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Adenosine.aspx