"Shen" > wrote in news:1169057446.772359.274170
@l53g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> Hello, all,
>
> I have just seen an interesting turn of events in a patient who has
> in the last few months started to drink a goodly amount of tea for
> "health" reasons (self-prescribed). I have always been an advocate of
> the benefits of tea drinking; however, this fellow did go a little
> overboard and has been consuming 2/3 liters daily of pu-erh or
> oolong, primarily and a bit of Earl Grey. It seems his B1 levels
> have dropped considerably. After doing some of research and speaking
> with colleagues, we discovered that tea consumption in this amount
> can support B1 deficiency. This is important particularly for
> congestive heart disease patients and those whom consume alcohol
> (too much) since these folks tend to need more B1 and both conditions
> can also lead to deficiency.
>
> Just a note that if you do choose to drink copious amounts of this
> wonderful stuff, watch your B vitamins (eat your whole grains).
> These is meant to be a suggestion and not a substitution for medical
> advice.
>
> Shen

Not disrespecting your professional status, and not overlooking the fact
that you posted this suggestion at all, nevertheless I would appreciate the
URL's of some of that research, if any of it is on line. I have an
intuitive doubt that the wonderful stuff can have any such effect -- but if
statistically valid research on has been done which tends to point to this,
I certainly want to know of it.

Meantime, consuming tea in amounts in excess of a l/d, I've been avoiding
thiamin supplementation for other reasons -- but I suppose a little more
kichari (mostly mung beans & brown rice) couldn't hurt, *especially* as
it's one of my favorite foods...

Ozzy