Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, and Chocolate: The Evil Effects of Their Poisons upon the Human System

TEA, COFFEE, COCOA AND CHOCOLATE. THE EVIL EFFECTS OF THEIR POISON UPON THE HUMAN SYSTEM. BY U. L. GARDNER, M.D., SALT LAKE CITY. [There are many who know that tea and coffee are injurious to health, but it is generally believed that cocoa and chocolate are not harmful drinks. The writer, a well known practicing physician, was requested by Miss Helen Mar Kimball, a student of the Latter-day Saints' Univer- sity, to give his opinion upon the subject, which he has done in the fol- lowing article, for which the Era is indebted to Miss Kimball. We believe the contents of the paper are worthy of careful consideration. In this connection, these words from a French paper, translated for Good Health, are to the point: "Alcoholic insanity is increasing with great rapidity in Paris. Alcohol is perhaps more active than any other agent in produc- ing human degeneracy, and is one of the most direct and potent causes of criminality and insanity. TI13 children of drunkards are very liable to be epileptic and idiotic, as well as criminal. The children of alcohol- drinking parents, when young, do not appear different from other chil- dren, but about the age of puberty their criminal instincts begin to manifest themselves * * * Careful observations have shown again and again that there is an intimate relation between diet and alcoholism; especially that tea, coffee, and condiments lead to the use of alcohol. It has also been demonstrated that flesh-eating creates a thirst for alco- holic beverages and an appetite for tobacco, the use of which almost invariably leads, sooner or later, to the use of alcohol in one form or another."—Editors.] The vast number of teapots in constant requisition in all civilized countries of the globe, warrants the supposition that in

218 IMPROVEMENT ERA. the estimation of the tea drinking public, at least, the teapot is an indispensable culinary utensil, and the steaming decoction which it contains, an innocent or necessary beverage. The object of this article is to call attention to the fact, that the revelations of modern scientific researches, as well as the ob- servations of scientific physicians in various parts of the world, have found in tea and its congeners—coffee, cocoa, chocolate, etc. —active causes of serious disease. Tea contains two harmful substances,—theine and tannin— from three to six per cent of theine, and more than one-fourth its weight of tannin. Coffee contains both theine and tannin, though in less proportion than in tea. Cocoa and chocolate contain a sub- stance similar to theine, which is equally harmful, though usually present in less proportions than in tea. It will surprise many devotees of the cup to be told that these common beverages contain a violent poison; but such is the fact. Theine has been separated from both tea and coffee, and experiments have been made with it which show most conclusively that it is a deadly poison, capable of producing immediate death in both human beings and lower animals. Theine belongs to the same class of poisons as strychnine, and is still more closely allied to cocaine. The last named drug is obtained from cocoa leaves, which are used in South America as tea is in this country, and with =the same effects. The results of cocaine, upon those who become habituated to its use, are found to be more terrible than those of any of the numerous vile drugs which have been longer known, not excepting opium or alcohol. Theine is almost identical with cocaine, both in its chemical com- position and in its effects. If these beverages contain such a poison, why do they not produce fatal results more frequently than they do? We simply answer, because a tolerance of these drugs is established by use, just as in the case of tobacco and morphine. In classing these favorite beverages with causes of dyspepsia, we shall certainly call forth a loud protest from the numerous devotees of the "fragrant cups," and among the number of those who argue for their use, we shall find numerous learned professors, as well as nearly the whole sisterhood of the wives, maidens, moth-

TEA, COFFEE, COCOA AND CHOCOLATE. 219 ers and grandmothers of the nation, along with a good proportion of the husbands, fathers, brothers, and grandfathers, as well. Nevertheless, it can be easily shown that whatever action may be assigned to these beverages, it is unfavorable to digestion rather than otherwise. Both tea and coffee contain tannin, which precipitates or neutralizes the pepsin of the gastric juice, and so weakens its digestive power. Theine and caffiene, the active prin- ciples of tea and coffee, are toxic elements, which at first increase and then diminish vital action, thus occasioning debility of the di- gestive organs, from long continued use. Both tea and coffee are objectionable, on the same ground as other beverages, in connection with meals, on account of disturb- ing the digestion by dilution and consequent weakening of the gastric juice, and overtaxing the absorbents, delaying the digestion of the food, and thus giving rise to fermentation. When taken hot, as is the usual custom, these beverages, as do others, at first stimulate, but ultimately relax and debilitate the stomach. The objections mentioned as applying to tea and coffee may be urged with equal force against cocoa and chocolate, the effects of which differ from the effects of tea and coffee chiefly in degree. Cocoa and chocolate contain an active poisonous substance called theobromine, which is closely related chemically to theine of tea, and the effect upon the system is practically identical to that of tea and coffee. The nervous, palefaced, anaemic girl is an unmistakable evi- dence of the poisonous effects of cocoa, chocolate and tea, the tannin of which unites with the iron in the food, and forms a tan- nate of iron, thus robbing the blood of one of its most important elements. This newly formed substance, tannate of iron, is turned loose in the system, becoming an irritant to the sensitive nerve- centres, producing extreme nervous irritability, and prepares the way for numerous constitutional diseases. Why this persistent clamoring for drink of any kind with the meal? It always tends to diminish the activity of the natural digestive secretions, especially interfering with the process of sal- ivary digestion in the mouth. If we wash our food down with drink of any kind, the saliva is not permitted to do the prepara- tory work of changing the starch to a form of dextrin or sugar;

220 IMPROVEMENT ERA. hence, the raw unchanged starch, which cannot be acted upon in the stomach, is carried into the more sensitive organs of digestion, the intestines, where it forms a gaseous fermentation, and causes constipation, which in turn causes poisonous substances to be ab- sorbed and carried into the blood; and nervousness, rheumatism, and many other allied diseases is the result. The man who persists in the abuse of his stomach and nerv- ous system, by using these nerve-destroying drugs or beverages, must of necessity spend many wakeful hours meditating on the truthfulness of the statement, "The way of the transgressor is hard." In closing, I wish to emphasize the fact that cocoa and choc- olate, which are so extensively used and looked upon by the public as not only harmless beverages but as useful food substances, are capable of causing greater evil than does tea or coffee, for the simple reason, that tea and coffee are becoming to be looked upon with suspicion, and the tea and coffee devotees now pride themselves with the fact that they do not use their tea or coffee strong, but only color the water. But as cocoa and chocolate are considered to be wholesome, they do not limit the free use of these deceitful beverages—just as the man who prides himself on being able to use intoxicating liquors without becoming drunk, exerts a far greater damaging influence than does the man who cannot stop drinking until he is dead drunk and falls in the ditch, or staggers and reels on the sidewalk, and exhibits the intellest only of a brute beast. The former says to the rising young generation, by his actions and influence, that they cannot partake of the intoxicating cup and still retain their manhood; while the latter, by his slothful disgusting conduct and influence, says: "Beware of the cup; don't do as I do;" and the sober, decent young man looks upon him with disgust and abhorrence. Thus, often, the less of two evils is capable of exerting a more harmful influence than the greater.