I know! I know! I am always talking about the importance of organic, but when it comes to tea and coffee, it is literally critical that you choose and drink organic tea and coffee over non-organic tea and coffee whenever possible. Here is why!
Conventional, non-organic coffees and teas are two of the most heavily chemically treated products for consumption in the entire world. They are both steeped in synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. So, when many people say coffee is bad for you. It’s not really true. The real answer is conventionally grown, non-organic coffee is bad for you, and the same goes for tea. These chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides used to produce coffee and tea remain in the coffee beans and tea leaves long after production. On the other hand, if coffee and tea are organic, they contain certain antioxidants that promote better health and well-being.
With respect to tea, for whatever reason, when its being grown and harvested, it is prime for pests. So, many tea growers and harvesters use a bunch of really strong chemicals and pesticides to get rid of the pests, and these growers and harvesters keep adding more and more, because these pests start becoming immune to the pesticides. Some of these common pesticides are DDT, endosulfan, dicofol and ethion. Also, non-organic tea includes metals and fluoride, and we all know how I feel about metals and fluoride in products for consumption or use on your body. Those are always a no for me. The heavy metals and fluoride come from the soil that the tea is grown in and the metals accumulate in the leaves over time. Also, older leaves will inevitably contain more toxins, and these leaves are used by a lot of companies because its’ simply cheaper. All of these pesticides are toxic, and many of these pesticides remain on the tea when produced, packed and placed on the shelves of stores to be consumed by the general public.
Also, a lot of coffees and teas can contain mold when not processed correctly. Since coffee and tea are two of the most sought-after and consumed drinks, producers try to produce coffee and tea as cheaply and quickly as possible. They want to keep up with the demand. This means that the beans and leaves are inferiorly and partially dried and re-wet so quickly that mold is created and grown, and this mold stays in the leaves and coffee beans that we consume. And mold has been shown to cause cell mutations and kill neurons in our nervous system. It also can cause birth defects. So, it is really important to find out how the tea and coffee are being produced.
Further, as you know (not that I think the United States government is any better when it comes to the FDA and banning certain uses of pesticides and chemicals in products) and I am not sure the government would even ban any of the above, many of these countries that produce coffee and tea are third world countries that do not have many, if any, regulations when it comes to the production of products for the use and consumption by consumers in general. So, the coffee and tea industry is somewhat of a free for all when it comes to growth and production methods and the like, and as of now, our government does not have maximum residue limits for pesticides and toxins used in the production of tea and coffee beans. That’s actually very scary, and the only way to control how many toxins and pesticides you are consuming by drinking coffee and tea is to choose organic. Otherwise, you are consuming a ton of toxins each day by drinking conventional coffees and teas.
Organic teas and coffees, when produced, do not include synthetic pesticides, fertilizers or chemicals. They are produced using strict guidelines, which truly benefit your health and well-being. So, the result is that clean tea leaves and coffee beans are produced better your health. It is also best to find coffee and tea that has been wet produced only and not repeatedly wet and dried when produced to avoid mold build up. Lastly, it is important to keep track of where the coffee and tea are produced, because there are different production restrictions in different places. Organic tea from China still retains chemicals because their standards are different, and some organic teas are held in plastic, BPA or GMO latent tea bags, which leaches into your tea when steeped.
Lastly, the coffee beans and tea are produced organically and properly, they better retain their health benefits, as well. For example, organic coffee beans are richer in natural antioxidants, which will help boost your immune system. It can also guard against disease. The same goes for tea. When the tea is organic, it holds more of its antioxidants, phenols and polyphenols. Polyphenols include catechins, flavonoids, tannins and theaflavins, which all promote a healthy body.
The moral of the story is to buy organic, and generally, be aware. Read the labels and ingredients of the products you buy to determine what you really are consuming and where the products are from.
Here’s to being a little more preserved.
Always,
Taylor
