Is green tea against the WOW in all countries?
 

I was asked if it was against the WoW yesterday by a member.

I know it is against the WoW in Japan. I heard from a friend who went on a mission to S. Korea, that it is not against the WoW there.

Depends where you are in Japan. My buddy in Tokyo says that the members there don't make a big deal out of it.

That's one of those odd artifacts of how we apply the WoW. By all accounts, green tea is extremely healthy.

When I was kid and we went to chinese restaraunts my mom always got green tea.

OTOH my mother also drinks coffee for her "asthma"

Yes. I don't know the reasoning in S. Korea, but green tea is made from camellia sinensis, the same plant that black, oolong, and white tea come from.

Green tea is not an herbal tea or "tisane," which are "teas" made from any plant other than camellia sinensis (and which are not against the WoW's conventional prescription against tea).

At least if we go by conventional understanding, healthiness is not the measurement. If it were, we wouldn't be eating most of the crud from the grocery store in the name of the WoW.

An argument could be made from D&C 89 that the prescription against hot drinks is about healthiness (in that hot drinks are not for the body or the belly), but this would be going against convention (which unequivocably prescribes against coffee and tea and leaves individual members to sort out the relationship between spiritual and physical benefits on their own, or to wrestle with the diverse statements of leaders and varioius common interpretations).

One could also argue that the vagueness in this area is deliberate. The TR question is simply, "Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?" There isn't the same specificity in this question as there was when as a missionary I listed "alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and harmful drugs" in the fourth lesson.

I have quit caffeine, so I wouldn't drink it. Whatever healthy stuff is in it, to me, doesn't outweigh the caffeine.

Actually, while I was in Korea (96-98), the Area President asked that the missionaries stop drinking it. The reasoning behind it was that some members were offended that missionaries were breaking the WoW, not that it was against the WoW.

Great stuff, btw. I loved it. MUCH better than the pumpkin tea. I had to switch to orange-peel tea instead, which was MUCH more sugary and I didn't enjoy as much.

It was on the list of five "bad" teas we taught when I was a missionary in Japan in the early 80s. "Ocha, cocha... " I forget the rest.

We drank a lot of mugicha. Kind of an acquired taste (wheat tea).

On my mission, temple-going Russians routinely put decaf coffee in front of us.

That's what happens when missionaries teach people that coke is part of the word of wisdom, but caffeine-free coke is not.

I like Mugicha. Cold, with no sweeteners or any other additives.

Me too. We call it "cigarette butt tea".

I like a lot of Japanese stuff that is an acquired taste: mugicha, ume boshi (pickled plum), natto (fermented soy beans). When I eat batayaki or sukiyaki or shabu shabu, I like to dip my meat in raw egg.

I saw a show not that long ago, where Japanese people catch small fish. They salt them, then bury them in rice, raw. And then the next year they dig them out and eat them after they have fermented. That looked interesting.

Green Tea (as I understand) is a formiddable weapon against cancer. They've also discovered that coffee is full of anti-oxydents. Not to mention the salutary effects of 2-3 drinks a week.

I know you would love to say that caffeine is good for you, but the evidence is increasingly against it.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/341/22/1688

I'm not pregnant.

Since you couldn't drink tap-water in Korea, pretty much everyone made "Barley-tea" when they boiled their water to improve the taste.


It was pretty much like drinking water filtered through cardboard.

No wonder you are so slow:

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/341/22/1688


You don't have blood flowing to your brain. Are you a lush too?

Is there any other way to drink it?

Warm Kombu-cha is nice.

Otherwise, I hate all teas, herbal or otherwise.

I used so say the Japanese had found a way to make burnt water.

shabu shabu. excellent call.

that is what I doing for lunch today. thanks for the idea.

My favorite INXS album.

Incorrect about Korea. It is against WoW there also.

Love mugicha. It's called boricha in Korea. Same stuff.

Not to worry, Mike. Green tea only has 15 mg per 8 oz. Compared to ~100 mg for coffee and 50-60 mg for common tea.

http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm

Wasn't when I was there...

By the way, this chart shows that green tea has about the same caffeine content as hot chocolate. Why on earth would green tea by against the WoW but hot chocolate be OK?

easy. hot chocolate is not tea, and the WoW says nothing about caffeine.

Perhaps you can point out the verse that mentions tea:

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/89

I can't see it.

if you don't believe in the prophets, then that is your business.

I've held on through polyandry, blacks and the priesthood etc.. but if they take chocolate away from me I'm leaving.

The WOW makes a lot more sense when you stop expecting it to be objectively tied to real health benefits or detriments. It is nothing more or less than a way to show devotion to God. Just like the Jews would have been just fine eating pork and shellfish, you would be okay physically if you drank tea. Or maybe you would suffer some marginal loss of health, but I don't think that is really what it is all about. At least not any more.

Yep.

You've got me all wrong, Mike. I don't drink or smoke. Nor do I indulge in hot drinks. I eat my fair share of wheat, and I eat very little barley or rye. But I must admit that I love oatmeal raisin cookies (sorry YOhio) and corn on the cob. And I eat meat in the summer.

I take it at face value. It is one of my favorite revelations. I just don't like how it is observed in modern times. I think that speaks more to our culture and human nature than it does to the original revelation.

I guess it all depends on what you believe its face value is. I agree with you that in our culture it has moved well beyond the original intent. That it is such an easy litmus test to apply has dramatically exaggerated its importance, IMO.

I don't drink and never have. Don't believe I ever will. Still, I do think it is unfortunate that we have removed alcohol from the culture since there is a fair amount of Biblical drinking and particularly since wine has such an important symbolic connection to the blood of Christ, was consumed at that last supper. Jesus compared the new law to wine that would shatter an old bottle, the Samaritan treats the beaten man with oil and wine, Jesus says he will drink wine in the new Kingdom of God. Its a small thing. I just like the symbolic connection.

Because the LDS Church and it's teachings are the same in all countries, the real question ought to be whether green tea is against the Word of Wisdom, regardless of country.

The Word of Wisdom mentions hot drinks. People have interpreted it to mean coffee and tea, but not hot chocolate. Apparently, caffeinated soft drinks are ok. Perhaps iced green tea would be as well.

Who knows?

If I have an upset stomach, I'll have a cup of green tea and I don't sweat it much.

I applaud the fact that the church has declined in any official way to be more specific. I think that a huge proportion of the membership would be very happy to get back to the level of specificity that the Jews in Jesus day had. Can't eat off of a cracked plate. Can only take a certain number of steps on the sabbath. You break your fast if you swallow your saliva. That is an impulse that has to be actively resisted and for the most part I think the brethren do a good job.

Agreed.

It seems that there are portions of the WofW that are left to personal interpretation. It makes us think for ourselves and leaves a bit of wiggle room for areas that are not so specific.

I've always felt that it's more something to test obedience than anything else, especially when it comes to alcohol and other drinks.

It's like posting a "Do not touch because the electricity may or may not be on" sign on a regular chain link fence to see if anyone is willing to just not touch the fence because of the sign. You might not get shocked if you touch it, but by touching it, you ignored the warning.

Exactly.

I love Mexican rice tea, also known as Horchata.