Drinking tea save you from COVID-19? know the exact truth

On the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases, people are finding new and innovative ways of sharing advice that has no backing or proven evidence.

Post the beginning of the pandemic, social media is filled with misinformation about the novel coronavirus.

Some of it may seem extremely convincing but otherwise, the web is filled with all types of conspiracy theories.

Only masks, vaccines and social distance can save you from COVID-19, but still people believe in unwanted theories which makes no sense.

Now people are assuming that drinking tea will save a individual from COVID-19.

The message claims that Dr Li Wenliang — the Chinese doctor who raised the alarm about a new pneumonia-like infection in Wuhan and who eventually died of COVID-19 — had conducted his own research and proposed a cure. This cure included Methylxanthine, Theobromine and Theophylline, which are found in tea. The recoveries in China are credited to this “cure” and the source of this “news” is cited as CNN.

Research hasn’t even fully established if warm tea can help you fight off or prevent the common cold - what it can do in some cases is ease the symptoms, like congestions and throat pain. Many warm liquids are recommended for this.

As for the compounds that are supposed to give tea its curative powers against COVID-19 — methylxanthines are organic compounds found in tea, coffee and chocolate; theophylline is a type of methylxanthine; theobromine works as a bronchodilator (dilates the bronchi in the lungs) to soothe some respiratory symptoms — is present only in black tea in small amounts.

Theobromine could lower blood pressure, act as a mild stimulant, and may even help in suppressing a cough. Theophylline has similar benefits as well, like the potential to make breathing easier and improve blood flow. Theophylline is also used to treat asthma - but in much larger amounts than is present in tea.

But preventing or curing COVID-19 is not something tea can do. In theory, it may ease some of the symptoms, but it can’t fight off the infection or disease itself. There is also no sign of an article by CNN in which they claim it could.

Also, Dr Li Wenliang is being hailed a hero in China - but for a different reason. In December 2019, he tried to warn medical professionals about a virus similar to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). He was asked to stop spreading these “rumours” by the police. He later succumbed to COVID-19 .