Rabat – Tunisian doctor Béchir Dinguizli warned of a “new social scourge” spreading across Tunisia, at a meeting with French authorities in Paris in 1927. The problem? Tea!
‘Teaism’ – what was it and how the tea affected the body
In 1941, the French doctor Edmond Sergent described that by adding used black tea leaves to the water as it boiled, it created a harmful, tar-like drink.
Dinguizli compared addiction to this specific tea in Tunisia to alcoholism, citing symptoms such as tremors, palpitations, disturbances to the nervous and circulatory system, and mental consequences such as hallucinations.
The problems of teaism
The concern went beyond the feared physical effects of consumption; perceived social consequences were founded in the belief that tea addiction would lead to negative behaviours. There was concern of people selling precious possessions and stealing to support the tea addicts’ consumption habits. French colonists and upper class Tunisians worried about the economic impacts, with pro-colonial politician Mario Roustan claiming that “from morning to evening, all day and for a large part of the night, [rural Tunisian men] are squatting around a tea kettle, drinking and doing nothing.”
How Moroccans avoided ‘teasim’
Since the 18th century Morocco has had a relationship with tea, started through its colonial contacts. Today tea is a staple of Moroccan life, an expression of hospitality and a representation of the country’s strong communal culture.
Additionally, Moroccan tea provided medicinal benefits through the antioxidants packed in green tea.
Despite Morocco’s higher levels of tea consumption, cases of teaism were very rare. This is due to the way Moroccans prepare their tea – a specific ritual that developed in the 18th century. By using green tea and adding mint and sugar, Moroccans were consuming a different drink to the Tunisians at the time, and the widespread popularity left little room for the harmful, addictive variant to overtake the country.
