Thanks. I drink a lot of green tea so I appreciate this article. I am not changing anything. I drink the actual tea rather than some GTE drink. The Japanese drink a ton of green tea and yet they somehow manage to outlive just about every other nationality. I am thinking green tea is not so bad. Thanks.
You should also take into consideration the purity of their tea. I don't have evidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if the quality of green tea from Japan is much higher than other places. It appears that green tea may be sourced from various countries, and so there's a possibility that most supermarket green tea may not be so pure based on wherever the tea is derived from.
Once again, it sounds like people turning to "pills" to solve their problems. There are other issues related to green tea, as I recall. Plants can pick up contaminants from the soil, and it seems like the specific issue for teas may have been fluoride accumulation, although I could have that mixed up. Also, green tea and others may contain elevated levels of naturally-occurring oxalates. If oxalate intake from other foods is also high, there might be a problem.
I have green tea occasionally, and I don't drink gallons of it. It's not a magic cure, but it might help some people. One has to be wary of promotions, always, coming from people that stand to make money from increased consumption. Green tea extract without a specific indication? No way.
So the Malnick, et al. review actually mentions fluoride from water used to brew the tea (this is what I meant by purity of the water used), so that may be a possibility. For dry tea leaves there is an issue of pesticides and other contaminants. However, for supplements it's possible that these contaminants may be amplified. Most supplements lack purity standards, and for the most part the actual content of supplements may not be accurate relative to the label so there's a lot of uncertainty when using supplements.
I generally drink green tea, but I don't have a lot and usually not on an empty stomach. It's also important to recognize if one starts to feel off and understanding why that may be the case. I should have included symptoms of liver toxicity.
My first experience making green tea didn't go so well since I used boiling water which releases tannins (of which EGCG/catechins apparently belong) making it super bitter. It is much more palatable when made with simply hot water and I actually prefer to drink it cold.
Those headlines are definitely inflammatory and contain very little context and include an anecdotal story about a 23 year old who drank 2-3 cups daily and is now in need of a liver transplant (gee, that sounds scary .... you assume 23 year old means young and healthy, but with no context it really doesn't offer any useful information). I have been working with a bunch of Asian women for upwards of 20 years who have drank green tea daily and yet none of them are in need of a liver transplant.
I like it so I drink it. I'm not good at swallowing pills so I'm pretty much not going to take supplements anyways (other than vitamin D).
Boiling water is probably one of my issues as well. That, and leaving the tea to steep for too long.
I was actually going to make a comment on some of these articles. The Toronto Sun one seemed one of the most reserved while the one you mentioned just dove straight into the fear. It's funny when you see how certain studies are portrayed in the mainstream press. A total nothingburger may come off as seeming like doom and gloom. Recently CNN wrote about that erythritol study and fell head over heels in insinuating the dangers of sugar substitutes.
Those of us who are out in the weeds, know that the plant material which goes into making concentrated supplements often is harvested with combines. It's never 100 percent homogenous monoculture plants. Other stuff is present. You should see the plants that cattle have to eat around in any given pasture, like pokeweed, jimson weed, poison hemlock, etc. Cattle do a much better job than a combine.
Carcinogenic contaminants have also caused numerous pharmaceuticals to be recalled.
That makes sense. It's sort of the same as how people are shocked that their flour has bits of grasshopper in it. There's no way you'll get that level of purity unless you go around harvesting things by hand! That's not feasible in the modern world and so we sort of take our losses where we deem it fitting.
I didn't think too much about it but if people have fears over pesticides then supplements would be an issue since they are more concentrated.
Correct!! For the sake of yield, and fungus prevention, most of these plants can't be washed in any way. We take whatever pesticides come with them, as well as the heavy metals and pollutants present in the environment of their production, largely outside of so called developed nations. Some, but not all contaminants can be separated out during extraction processes. Others might become highly concentrated, depending on their chemical similarity to the compounds of interest.
A big trend in the U.S. among herbalists is home grown product, which we do at weedom. Of course the bugs are with us, but the sprays are not. Hand harvesting is far too laborious for commercial production. Chamomile is ridiculous!! :-D But our weeds are some potent stuff.
For the most part, there doesn't seem to be a serious issue. It may be more concerning if she starts drinking A LOT of green tea, and for those who are young the use of supplements may be one thing to really look out for. But again, I'm not a medical professional! Always look out for bits of information and come to your own conclusion.
Thanks. I drink a lot of green tea so I appreciate this article. I am not changing anything. I drink the actual tea rather than some GTE drink. The Japanese drink a ton of green tea and yet they somehow manage to outlive just about every other nationality. I am thinking green tea is not so bad. Thanks.
You should also take into consideration the purity of their tea. I don't have evidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if the quality of green tea from Japan is much higher than other places. It appears that green tea may be sourced from various countries, and so there's a possibility that most supermarket green tea may not be so pure based on wherever the tea is derived from.
Thank you for making the comment about the Japanese. I was going to add that.
Once again, it sounds like people turning to "pills" to solve their problems. There are other issues related to green tea, as I recall. Plants can pick up contaminants from the soil, and it seems like the specific issue for teas may have been fluoride accumulation, although I could have that mixed up. Also, green tea and others may contain elevated levels of naturally-occurring oxalates. If oxalate intake from other foods is also high, there might be a problem.
I have green tea occasionally, and I don't drink gallons of it. It's not a magic cure, but it might help some people. One has to be wary of promotions, always, coming from people that stand to make money from increased consumption. Green tea extract without a specific indication? No way.
So the Malnick, et al. review actually mentions fluoride from water used to brew the tea (this is what I meant by purity of the water used), so that may be a possibility. For dry tea leaves there is an issue of pesticides and other contaminants. However, for supplements it's possible that these contaminants may be amplified. Most supplements lack purity standards, and for the most part the actual content of supplements may not be accurate relative to the label so there's a lot of uncertainty when using supplements.
I generally drink green tea, but I don't have a lot and usually not on an empty stomach. It's also important to recognize if one starts to feel off and understanding why that may be the case. I should have included symptoms of liver toxicity.
Been drinking green tea literally for decades. My liver is still in great shape.
My first experience making green tea didn't go so well since I used boiling water which releases tannins (of which EGCG/catechins apparently belong) making it super bitter. It is much more palatable when made with simply hot water and I actually prefer to drink it cold.
Those headlines are definitely inflammatory and contain very little context and include an anecdotal story about a 23 year old who drank 2-3 cups daily and is now in need of a liver transplant (gee, that sounds scary .... you assume 23 year old means young and healthy, but with no context it really doesn't offer any useful information). I have been working with a bunch of Asian women for upwards of 20 years who have drank green tea daily and yet none of them are in need of a liver transplant.
I like it so I drink it. I'm not good at swallowing pills so I'm pretty much not going to take supplements anyways (other than vitamin D).
Boiling water is probably one of my issues as well. That, and leaving the tea to steep for too long.
I was actually going to make a comment on some of these articles. The Toronto Sun one seemed one of the most reserved while the one you mentioned just dove straight into the fear. It's funny when you see how certain studies are portrayed in the mainstream press. A total nothingburger may come off as seeming like doom and gloom. Recently CNN wrote about that erythritol study and fell head over heels in insinuating the dangers of sugar substitutes.
Thank you! I just switched to whiskey! 🥃
Tea, for the most part, should not be an issue. However, whiskey soaked tea...🤔
Great article!!!
Those of us who are out in the weeds, know that the plant material which goes into making concentrated supplements often is harvested with combines. It's never 100 percent homogenous monoculture plants. Other stuff is present. You should see the plants that cattle have to eat around in any given pasture, like pokeweed, jimson weed, poison hemlock, etc. Cattle do a much better job than a combine.
Carcinogenic contaminants have also caused numerous pharmaceuticals to be recalled.
That makes sense. It's sort of the same as how people are shocked that their flour has bits of grasshopper in it. There's no way you'll get that level of purity unless you go around harvesting things by hand! That's not feasible in the modern world and so we sort of take our losses where we deem it fitting.
I didn't think too much about it but if people have fears over pesticides then supplements would be an issue since they are more concentrated.
Correct!! For the sake of yield, and fungus prevention, most of these plants can't be washed in any way. We take whatever pesticides come with them, as well as the heavy metals and pollutants present in the environment of their production, largely outside of so called developed nations. Some, but not all contaminants can be separated out during extraction processes. Others might become highly concentrated, depending on their chemical similarity to the compounds of interest.
A big trend in the U.S. among herbalists is home grown product, which we do at weedom. Of course the bugs are with us, but the sprays are not. Hand harvesting is far too laborious for commercial production. Chamomile is ridiculous!! :-D But our weeds are some potent stuff.
Good news for me I guess, I love a good cup of green tea. ✌️
Extending lifespans is persona non grata.
Glad to read this as my 13yo daughter drinks green tea!
For the most part, there doesn't seem to be a serious issue. It may be more concerning if she starts drinking A LOT of green tea, and for those who are young the use of supplements may be one thing to really look out for. But again, I'm not a medical professional! Always look out for bits of information and come to your own conclusion.