Reasons Doctors Don't Recommend Drinking Tea Together With Eating

JAKARTA - Drinking tea while eating is not recommended by the doctor. Because it contains caffeine, tea can interfere with the absorption of iron from food.

"Therefore, in iron deficiency patients, we recommend not eating while drinking tea or coffee or milk," said the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Blood Hematology & Transfusion Association Dr. dr. TB. Djumhana Atmahusuma, SpPD-KHOM quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, December 3.

Therefore, Djumhana recommended that people wait about two hours after eating to be able to drink caffeine so that the iron absorption from the food is not disturbed.

According to him, this method also prevents anemia from developing iron deficiency, which is characterized by hair loss, fatigue, lack of energy, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeats, and pale skin.

Based on Basic Health Research (Riskesdas), the prevalence of anemia increased from 21.7 percent (2013) to 23.7 percent (2018) of the total population in Indonesia.

Data also shows that in 2018, three out of 10 Indonesian teenagers suffered from anemia and 62.6 percent of cases of anemia were caused by iron deficiency.

In addition to paying attention to caffeine consumption time, other efforts that people can do to prevent anemia are by eating foods containing iron from animal sources, such as cow's liver and non-atoms such as green vegetables such as spinach, mustard, and broccoli.

In addition, Djumhana also suggested that young women who lacked iron could get blood-added tablets (TTD) or other iron supplements.

"Preparate iron oral or injection. The injection is given to patients who orally cannot consume, for example due to pregnancy, nausea, vomiting. Don't give it to thalassemia patients, chronic inflammatory, HIV, lupus so I suggest asking the doctor first," he said.