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Overdosing on Tea

How much is too much?

April 20, 2011 |
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Overdosing on Tea, 3.8 out of 5 based on 4 ratings

Sources Cited

Kobe J. Med. Sci., Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. E62-E72, 2008 . Effect of Ground Green Tea Drinking for 2 Weeks on the Susceptibility of Plasma and LDL to the Oxidation ex vivo in Healthy Volunteers. Syuzou Gomikawa, Yuichi Ishikawa, Wakako Hayase, Yuko Haratake, Namiko Hirano, Hiromi Matuura, Akiyo Mizowaki, Akiko Murakami, Mao Yamamoto.

Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Oct;19(10):732-9. Epub 2009 Jul 22. Green tea consumption and mortality among Japanese elderly people: the prospective Shizuoka elderly cohort. Suzuki E, Yorifuji T, Takao S, Komatsu H, Sugiyama M, Ohta T, Ishikawa-Takata K, Doi H.

Jury Says Radio Station Must Pay $16.6M in Woman’s Water Intoxication Death. Posted Oct 30, 2009 1:12 PM CDT. Martha Neil.



Acknowledgements

Transcript

Now to significantly extend our lifespan the latest research suggests one would have to drink 7 cups of tea a day, which raises the question, how much is too much? Sometimes you can get too much of a good thing—even water. Last year, for example, a jury awarded 16 million dollars to a family whose mom died of water intoxication trying to win her family a Nintendo. Some radio jocks came up with the idea for a “Hold your wee for a wii” contest. Whoever could drink the most water wins. Jennifer came in second, before she keeled over dead.
So you can overdo anything. How much tea too much? Is the safe upper limit around 5 cups a day, 10 cups, 15, 20, or can we safely drink 25 cups of tea a day?
The limiting factor is probably the fluoride levels in tea. There was a case recently reported of a woman developing fluoride toxicity from tea. How much did she drink? One to two gallons of double strength tea every day of her adult life. That’s the equivalent of about 30 to 60 cups of regular tea a day. That’s definitely too much.
Based on a new analysis of fluoride levels in five brands of bottled tea, I would recommend people not drink more than … ten cups of tea a day.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. And check out the other videos on tea. Also, there are 1,449 other subjects covered in the rest of my videos--please feel free to explore them as well!

Also, please check out my associated blog posts: The Best Detox and Is Caffeinated Tea Really Dehydrating?.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

    Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. And check out the other videos on tea. Also, there are 1,449 other subjects covered in the rest of my videos–please feel free to explore them as well!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

    What about caffeine? Tea is healthy but caffeine cant really be considered healthy?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/BoNovak/ Bo Novak

      Tea contains polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants and help reduce free radical damage and oxidisation. Societies built on tea, such as China and Japan, seem to have low levels of cancer compared to Western countries – although it’s worth noting that they tend to consume green tea. At the same time, tea – especially black tea – also contains tannins, which inhibit the absorption of minerals such as zinc and iron. So too much is not a good idea. Caffeine, whether in tea or coffee, is a stimulant which can cause anxiety and disrupt the sleep cycle if taken in excess (you don’t need a study to show you that!), as well as leading to withdrawal effects such as headaches. But based on the research, there are also benefits to consuming coffee (see http://nutritionfacts.org/video/update-on-coffee/. However, women who drink coffee and who are (or want to be) pregnant should view this video: http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/caffeine-during-pregnancy/, and those prone to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) should check out this post from my PMS warrior blog: http://www.pmswarrior.com/why-caffeine-and-pms-dont-mix/

      • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

        It was noted by Dr. Caldwell Essylsten that when one drinks coffee, epithelial cell damage occurs, and it was linked to the caffeine. To weigh out the pros and cons, this outweighs the pros for me so I drink decaf.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/bpcveg/ BPC

    Given the fluoride toxicity case, I wonder whether you would recommend that your followers change to non-fluoride toothpaste?

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/ghulstyle/ ghulstyle

    a couple weeks ago started drinking organic green tea and i noticed every time i drink it i become unusually sad and anxious for no reason and i get really depressed, it last i think for a couple of hours

    can grean tea cause depression like symptoms in people?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      The only study I’m aware of found that drinking 4 or more cups of tea a day was associated with significantly less depressive symptoms. But your own body knows best. If you don’t like how it makes you feel then I’d follow Toxins’ and DrDons’ advice to switch to something else.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/toxins/ Toxins

    You perhaps could be sensitive to caffeine, try decaf tea and see if you feel the same way

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/drdons/ DrDons

    I haven’t come across patients who have depressive symptoms from green tea. I think Toxins suggestion is worth trying. If that doesn’t work you might be sensitive to any one of hundreds of other ingredients in green tea so best to avoid drinking it. You could experiment with other teas see http://nutritionfacts.org/videos/the-healthiest-herbal-tea/ and avoid green tea.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/georgei/ GeorgeI

    A Quick Note About How Much Green Tea East Asians Drink:

    East Asians, when drinking green tea will typically reuse the leaves. So a quart a day isn’t 4 fresh servings of tea.

    A decent ( not good, just decent ) quality green tea can be used more than once.

    East Asians will typically start off with a small pot of green tea leaves and keep reusing all day long, just refreshing it with more hot water.

    So, they probably get a lot less caffeine.

  • Aaron

    How about Matcha? Would you say it has the same upper limit as regular green tea or is the fluoride increased when one consumes the actual leaves?

    • Narrativeart

       Yes, I would like to know the answer to that too. Thanks.

  • Jsmaine2253230

     I am have seen this study in my past researches on tea. You did not note that this woman was specifically drinking large quantities of “brick tea” – apparently an important point, since brick tea is rather like ground whole-plant tea, and possibly contains a much greater concentration of hand-picked teas (only the leaves), such as those found in most higher-quality loose or bagged tea.

  • mbglife

    What’s the ounce size of a cup of tea? Is it 8, like a standard cup or 4, as in most teacups?

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