Many people are used to drinking a cup of tea immediately after a meal, thinking that it can promote digestion. In fact, this is not a good habit. It will not only lead to indigestion, but also increase the risk of stones. Therefore, there is also a folk saying that "drinking tea after meals is equivalent to drinking poison". In this regard, Liu Jiaoshou, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, thinks that drinking tea immediately after meals is too exaggerated, but it is really inappropriate to drink a lot of tea, especially strong tea, about 20 minutes before and after meals. So, what is the reason? Because doing so will dilute gastric juice and affect digestion.

"Tea contains tannic acid and theophylline, both of which will affect the body's digestion of food." Li, a researcher at Tianjin Institute of Medicine, said in an interview with Life Times that gastric juice and intestinal juice are essential for human digestion of food, but when tannic acid enters the gastrointestinal tract, it will inhibit their secretion and lead to indigestion. In addition, tannic acid will coagulate with protein in meat, eggs, bean products, dairy products and other foods to form indigestible tannic acid protein clot. It should be specially reminded that if the food you eat contains metal elements, such as iron and magnesium, tannic acid may react with them and may form stones for many years.

In addition, gastric acid is acidic, while tea is alkaline. Drinking tea immediately after meals, theophylline will not only inhibit the secretion of gastric acid, but also dilute gastric acid, affecting the secretion of protease in gastric acid, thus affecting digestion. Related experiments also show that drinking tea brewed with 15g tea leaves after meals will reduce the absorption of iron in food by 50%. The higher the concentration of tea, the greater the harm to the body.

When going to a restaurant, people will not forget to ask for a cup of tea before the food is served. Li reminded that it is best to drink less tea before meals. If you want to drink, you should choose weak tea such as chrysanthemum tea, but remember not to drink tea during meals, which is more likely to lead to indigestion.

So what should we drink after dinner? Experts say that boiled water is the best drink after a meal, which can clear the mouth without affecting digestion. You can have some light tea half an hour after dinner.