Question
Dear Gramps,
With all the health benefits of green tea, can we use it in supplement form? And if not, what else can we get the antioxidants from?
Barbara
Answer
Dear Barbara,
I wonder why it is that some people seek for every excuse to violate the Word of Wisdom. It probably took some investigation to discover that green tea contains some of the antioxidants.
But antioxidants are prevalent in many foods. Important sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits, green peppers, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, strawberries, raw cabbage and potatoes. Vitamin E is found in wheat germ, nuts, seeds, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, vegetable oil and fish-liver oil. Carrots, squash, broccoli, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, kale, collards and cantaloupe are important sources of beta-carotene. Further, all the antioxidants may be acquired in pill form from any health food store. As anti-cancer agents, some health care professionals recommend as much as 3000 mg of vitamin C, 25,000 IU of vitamin A and 2400 IU of DRY vitamin E per day. (Please note with respect to vitamin E that we are not talking about d-alpha tocopheryl acetate, the thick oily vitamin E normally sold 400 IU capsules. This heavy oil is very difficult for the liver to process, and higher daily quantities than 400 IU are generally not recommended. However, the dry form–d-Alpha tocopheryl succinate– does not have that restriction, and doses as high as 2400 IU/day have been recommended). And oh, by the way, green tea also is a source of antioxidants. But you probably could not drink enough green tea to ingest that recommended quantity of the primary antioxidants. So why in the world do you want to focus on green tea as the source for your vitamins, other than as an excuse to drink the stuff, and try to justify some reason of contravening the words of the prophets?
Further, let’s suppose that green tea were the only source of the antioxidant vitamins, and the Lord has warned us by revelation not to drink tea and coffee, would you feel justified in going against the word of the Lord in order to get some supposed health benefits? It is unthinkable to me that anyone would think himself or herself more wise, knowledgeable or intelligent than God. Besides, He has no obligation to satisfy your curiosity concerning why that proscription was given. Perhaps the known deleterious effects of tea and coffee, including the habit-forming caffeine that they contain, are only incidental to the real reason that God gave the commandment. It should be more than sufficient to accept and to follow the will of the Lord in this and in any matter, without demanding all the technical reasons for the commandment before being willing to put it into practice.
Gramps
