Green tea has been studied and well know for it’s numerous
health benefits for a long time – from a powerful antioxidant to a fat
fighting agent but did you know it also has a dirty little secret?
Green tea or black tea leaves (especially older leaves or brick tea)
contains fluoride and aluminum.
Fluoride is found to effect bone density through a disease called skeletal fluorosis
where in that the bones (just like your teeth) become hardened on the outside
but become weaker on the inside and more brittle and easily fractured. With
osteoporosis on a rise, this is not a good thing. It’s also shown to
damage the thyroid hormone (metabolism).
Aluminum on the other hand, has been linked to mental diseases like
Alzeimer disease.
But will tea really make that much of a difference?
Well first off, It’s not so much the tea that’s the problem it’s that we also consume fluoride in other
area’s like our water system. My city here in Ottawa spends $300 000 on putting fluoride in our water system
in order to prevent cavities. Yet people reading this should know what causes cavities …poor nutrition.
You will hear many experts talk about fluoride toxicity at low dosages being safe. But they base this on seeing physicle
side effects. Like ingesting fluoride can produce gastrointestinal discomfort 0.2–0.3 mg/kg. What about
what we don’t see? What about nicotine that doesn’t show effects until years later.
My take on it, is that if it’s not good in larger doses it’s not good in smaller doses either and I would rather avoid
it and kick it off the super food list.
