Dr Johanna Budwig encouraged her patients to consume hot drinks.
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Green Tea and Herbal Teas for the Budwig Diet
Teas are all stimulating as they contain nearly as much caffeine as coffee but it is a far healthier drink. Green tea and herbal teas such as chamomile or peppermint are all recommended by Dr Budwig. A specific herbal tea for treating the immune system and cancer, Essiac tea, is also drunk by many following the Budwig Diet.
Black Tea
Black tea is a version of Camellia Sinensis from which green tea also comes. It has undergone a series of processes to give it the characteristic darkness and robust flavour of the Great British cuppa. It is lower in polyphenols and health benefit than green tea.
Dr Johanna Budwig permits a cup of black tea in the afternoon – or “on occasion”, which means the odd cup is OK but not to drink it wholesale as some people do.
Your black tea should be drunk black, without milk and without sweetening (other than a little honey – which tastes jolly funny to the average tea-drinker…). It is probably best to go for a lighter sort of black tea such as Darjeeling which is slightly richer in beneficial polyphenols and makes a less harsh drink when taken without milk or sugar.
Avoid smoked teas such as Lapsang Souchong as the smoke contains cancer-promoting compounds.
Perils of Tea Bag Teas
Apart from the fact they don’t tend to put the best teas into the bags, there is the question of what else is being introduced to your cuppa from the fabric of the bag. Some people are concerned with the bleaches used to whiten the tea bags but read about Dr Mercola’s concerns about altogether more sinister compounds in teabags.