Blended teas often resemble slushies and other colorful iced drinks.
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If there existed a beverage that promised to give you lasting energy and vitality, to help you lose weight and to make you healthier, would you drink it? That's exactly what is promised by loaded tea, a trendy beverage coming into popularity due to aesthetically pleasing photos on Instagram and influencer endorsements.
Might we suggest heeding the old adage: If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Scary anecdotes about extreme jitters, high blood pressure, flushed skin and other symptoms that occur after drinking loaded teas have bubbled to the surface on social media.
Case in point -- I logged on to my Facebook a few weeks ago and the first post on my timeline was a horror story. A friend of a friend found herself in the emergency room after drinking a loaded tea. She had the shakes, her skin was flushed and her heart was racing. The ER nurse informed her that her blood pressure was dangerously high due to caffeine.
So what exactly is loaded tea and why are people devoted to it? Is it really that dangerous? I explore those questions and more below.