I drink a lot of tea, mostly iced tea but a hot cup once in awhile. I’ve used the big one gallon Lipton tea bag’s for years. Yesterday my daughter tells me the tea bags are bad for me. Supposedly there are all kinds of questionable things in the bag its self. Evidently the paper is treated with plastic like chemicals. Have you heard of this? I just checked on loose leaf tea. It’ll be a pain in the butt to deal with and cost more too.
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Not sure about tea bags, but I gave up paper coffee filters years ago and switched to a French press because apparently they use bleaching methods on them. I imagine they do something similar to tea bags? -
Well to be fair, tea is a processed food at some level, … same breath, pretty sure when it’s my time. My wife will not be saying, I knew those damn tea bags were going to get him…. 😜Comment
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Oak Smoke I think it was Redd Foxx that said “ Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothin” -
Word is sun tea is subject to bacteria. Brew yer tea then be done with it. -
Alan Brice I can see that. I mean if SV needs to be above 130 F then sun tea would be unsafe. Then there’s that sunlight kills bacteria thing. Who knows?
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At some point in time almost everything will end up on the "it's gonna kill you" list, until it isn't anymore. Ya makes yur choices and ya takes yur chances...Comment
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There’s also those good old-fashioned metal mesh tea balls. Amazon has lots to choose from.Comment
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I gave up tea bags because, for me, it's easier to use loose tea. I make 1/2 gal at a time using my AeroPress, but our son just puts the loose tea in a jar and fills it with hot water. When it is ready he pours the tea into another jar through a sieve and he's done. Here's the tea I buy . It will make ~ 17 half gal jars of tea.
That comes out to about $0.17 per 8 oz glass. Luzianne 24 count gal bags work out to ~ $0.02 per 8 oz glass.Comment
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As a kid constantly drinking from the garden hose, playing with mercury, mercury fillings, eating lots of tuna and who knows what else. Still going strong at 75. Yes, all those paper products probably have chemicals in them. Honestly at this point in life I don't worry about it. How many times have they claimed coffee is bad for you then retracted. Heck we all consume smoked and charred foods that contain lots of fat. Where do you draw the line? Organic foods, check the country they are from and their definition and requirements for organic. Don't forget the chemicals in wine! 45 minutes until Happy Hour!Comment
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As always YMMV. That said, here is what little I know. Drinking non instant, non-flavored regular or Swiss Water method decaf coffee in moderation should be ok. During the roasting of coffee, a compound called Acrylamide is created and too much of this can be harmful. This compound has also been found in food as a result of our favorite Maillard Reaction. Seniors due to their older/more experienced kidney, liver, other organs can be stressed by this. Also, cafestol is in coffee and this can raise cholesterol levels among other health issues.
To lower these levels, a simple paper filter, preferably a non bleached filter will remove this. That's why I no longer drink French Press coffee but ether drip or pour over with a paper filter. Europe seams to study this more than the US just as they do with other food additives, dyes, and chemicals used in farming and food production that the Europeans don't allow to be used but the US still allows.
I believe that tea bags and toilet paper are not 100% paper and may contain plastic fibers and thus exposing us to nano plastics and forever chemicals that we consume. I've read that lower quality tea and tea dust goes into tea bags and better quality tea is sold in loose leaf form.
Again, YMMV and I'm still a meat eater, coffee drinker and have an occasional adult beverage.' And like Captain Lee, I'm still here and outside of some hair loss, hearing loss, weight gain, poor memory and poor eyesight, I 've had no side effects.Last edited by Purc; February 21, 2026, 05:02 PM.Comment
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I accidentally, (well, at least I didn't start out on purpose
), went down the rabbit hole on tea. Tea dust and small particles left over from processing whole leaves are used in tea bags, but I don't know if there is enough powdered tea to meet demand produced this way. I'm thinking
that they probably wind up crushing whole leaves to get enough fine tea for bags.
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I heard the bags are treated with plastic to prevent them from tearing, so you get a dose of microplastics. I started cutting the bags and straining the tea.Comment
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Alan Brice it appears that the ,this is bad for you crowd, gets all weird when you question them. I’m awaiting answers. -
Alan Brice I haven't done a deep dive into microplastics. 🤔 I dunno. It was something I heard or read as part of some other thing I was watching or reading. I didn't really do any further investigation on it, but I will.
It might be one of those things where you get a dose, but it isn't enough of a dose to worry about. 🤷♀️
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Do you use unbleached toilet paper?Comment
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