Tea Drink Clogs Teens Stomach, She Cant Poo For 5 Days

Story ByBuli LiangSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyAsia Wire Report

Video Credit: AsiaWire

These images show the clogged-up digestive system of a teen who could not do a poo for five days because her stomach and intestines were full of starchy balls contained in her favourite tea drink.

Zhu Li, the 14-year-old treated at Zhuji People’s Hospital in East China’s Zhejiang Province, is said to be fond of the sweet drink called bubble tea – also known as pearl milk tea or ‘boba’ tea.

The drink, originally from the island of Taiwan, typically contains dozens of starchy pearl-like tapioca balls, which are notoriously difficult to digest.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire & AsiaWire/Yumentea &
AsiaWire/Yi Fang

The constipated teenager was taken to the hospital complaining of severe pain in her stomach, and admitted that she had not done a number two for five days.

Doctor Zhang Louwei ordered scans of the girl’s stomach which revealed shocking amounts of granular shadows clogging up her entire digestive system from her stomach to her anus.

The medic estimated there to be hundreds of undigested tapioca balls, which are the key ingredient in the teenager’s favourite tea drink.

The girl, who only admitted to having one cup of bubble tea recently, was prescribed with laxatives to help flush out the balls.

Doctor Zhang said: “She must be hiding the true number of pearl milk tea she had. So many undigested tapioca balls can’t all be from just one cup. She must’ve had quite a few over a short period.”

He Yuling, chief of the hospital’s emergency department, said: “Bubble tea pearls are made using tapioca, which is already not easy to digest.

“Some companies add thickeners such as gelatin to make the balls more ‘al dente’.

“Drinking too much bubble tea can easily lead to gastrointestinal dysfunction.”