Instant Replay: Fluoride & Green Tea

For many years I served as a medical adviser with a group that educates about and researches on the topic of fluoride.  They do this because fluoride is a very toxic substance.

Over the years your exposure to fluoride has grown in many ways that to most are not considered.  To this end you will find many articles at Natural Health News about the fluoride issue.

My advice is to learn all you can and protect your self from overdosing on this very poisonous halogen group member.

If you follow this blog and our other web work you may know that I have frequently spoken out against green tea, especially as it is marketed to be the panacea of the world.

I do drink green tea from time to time, but very infrequently.  I like Pu'erh tea as well which is a fermented green tea.

I picked up on this today when the "Supermarket Guru" talked about an interview he was doing with an MD on Pu'erh.  While some reports show that Pu'erh may drop cholesterol levels that might not be your biggest need to know more about this topic. Clearly nothing was mentioned about the fluoride concern.

Here is what I stress about fluoride and green tea- 

 ...tea has been found to contain very high levels of fluorine, because it is generally made from lesser quality older tea leaves and stems, which accumulate fluorine. Its consumption has led to fluorosis (a form of fluoride poisoning that affects the bones and teeth) in areas of high ... tea consumption.

Cao J., Zhao Y., Liu J., (1998), "Safety evaluation and fluorine concentration of Pu'er brick tea and Bianxiao brick tea" Food Chem. Toxicol. 36(12):1061–1063

Overdoing green tea can lead to pancreatic cancer but few report this.

The impact of industrial fluoridation and depleted uranium in the environment as well as volcanic eruption also contribute to this.

Just another word to the wise.

See, It's Not Just Me About Green Tea

For many of those who have been following my work since the mid 80s, and a colleague or two over the years, there now is some additional data on risk from green tea.

We have reported on the risk of pancreatic cancer from green tea.

While I realize that most in the US go for headlines and hype rather than serious academic reporting, I am glad to have come across this data recently -

A recent study published in the journal, Biopharmaceutics & Drug disposition (Alemdaroglu et al, 2008), suggests that drinking either green or black tea may actually lower the bioavailability of folic acid. 

Warning for green/black tea drinkers!

and

This and previous research suggests that consuming green or oolong tea is associated with lower serum folate levels in pregnant women.  Given the potential adverse effects of folate deficiency on fetal malformations such as neural tube defects, pregnant women should restrict their intake of these teas during pregnancy. This research suggests that trying to offset the effect of green tea consumption by supplementation with vitamins or dietary intake of folate may not be effective.  Pregnant women may incorrectly assume that green tea is a healthy option given its other known salutary effects.

Warning for Pregnant Tea Drinkers

Vitamin B9 is folate, B vitamins

Selections from 20+ posts found on Natural Health News 

Natural Health News: Preventive Benefit of Coffee and Tea

Feb 03, 2011

Drinking coffee, decaf coffee, green tea or black tea was associated with a reduction in the risk of developing diabetes. For coffee, the reduction was dose-dependent, which is to say that the more coffee or tea drunk, the greater the ...

Green Tea Downside Possible

Feb 11, 2009

"We know that cancer patients look to green tea extracts among other natural supplements to complement their therapeutic regimens," Dr. Axel Schonthal, said in a statement. "We wanted to better understand how the compounds in green tea ...

Tea, you see

Apr 01, 2008

I recall those coffee house days of my teens when I sipped well brewed high quality Oolong tea from time to time. I have to admit I enjoy it, but I limit my intake because I know the dark side of green tea. ...

Preventive Benefit of Coffee and Tea

Helpful information but I suggest limiting your cups and using only organic.  And just another chance to caution on the green tea risk of pancreatic cancer: take heed.

The Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association (AMA), has recently released a comprehensive report on the benefits of coffee and tea for prevention of type 2 diabetes.¹ The report is a review of published studies and a pooled analysis of all the data (called a “meta-analysis”).
Drinking coffee, decaf coffee, green tea or black tea was associated with a reduction in the risk of developing diabetes. For coffee, the reduction was dose-dependent, which is to say that the more coffee or tea drunk, the greater the reduction in risk, about 7% per cup up to six cups a day.
The authors state that the effects may be due to the presence of phenolic compounds in coffee or tea that increase sensitivity to the effects of insulin, the hormone responsible for keeping blood sugar levels low.
The research described in this review is all observational: it follows the dietary habits of people and observes what diseases they develop. Observational research is sometimes inconclusive. To demonstrate the reality of the effect, a controlled interventional study would need to be done in which people were given pills of coffee or tea or a placebo and then followed for several years.
1. Huxkey R et al, Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, and tea Consumption in Relation to Incident Type 2 Diabetes mellitus. Arch Int med 169: 2053-2063 (2009). 

Read more about coffee


Roasting, why coffee is fountain of youth

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers say roasting is the reason coffee provides antioxidant benefits that help people fight aging. Lead author Yazheng Liu and co-author David Kitts, both of the University of British Columbia, say antioxidants present in dark roasted coffee brew extracts result from the green beans being browned under high temperatures.
The researchers analyzed the chemical compounds produced during the bean's browning process -- the "Maillard reaction." In the 1900s, French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard studied the way heat affects the carbohydrates, sugars and proteins in food when grilling steaks or toasting bread.
"Previous studies suggested that antioxidants in coffee could be traced to caffeine or the chlorogenic acid found in green coffee beans, but our results clearly show that the Maillard reaction is the main source of antioxidants," Liu says in a statement.
However, Kitts, a food science professor and director of the food, nutrition and health program, says coffee beans lose 90 percent of their chlorogenic acid during the roasting process.
Antioxidants help in removing free radicals -- the end products of metabolism which have been linked to the aging.
The findings appear in a forthcoming issue of Food Research International.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/02/04/Roasting-why-coffee-is-fountain-of-youth/UPI-15391296802480/#ixzz1D6IAMVE6

Natural Health News 6.2008 Wake up and enjoy an aroma of health


Roasting Coffee Beans Dark Brown Produces Better Antioxidants

Coffee beans that are darkly roasted a deep brown provide a more powerful antioxidant benefit, a new study has found.Food science researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada say the most antioxidants in coffee are produced when the green-colored beans are browned at high temperatures. Lead author Yazheng Liu and colleague Professor David Kitts looked at what is called the "Maillard reaction" -- the chemical reaction triggered by cooking foods, in this case during the roasting of coffee beans. They found that the compounds produced during the roasting process are where coffee's antioxidants come from. Prior research has suggested they originate in either the caffeine or other ingredients. "Previous studies suggested that antioxidants in coffee could be traced to caffeine or the chlorogenic acid found in green coffee beans," Liu said in a statement. "Our results clearly show that the Maillard reaction is the main source of antioxidants." Antioxidants have been showed to bolster the immune system and slow the aging process, among other benefits. They help to eliminate free radicals, which are the damaging end products produced during metabolism. The findings, to be published in Food Research International, showed that "coffee beans lose 90 percent of their chlorogenic acid during the roasting process," Kitts said in a statement. The Maillard reaction was named for the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, who in the 1900s studied the effects of heat on proteins, sugars and carbohydrates in food, as in when steak is barbecued or bread is toasted. Prior research has had mixed results. Some studies have found that antioxidant levels are higher in dark-brown coffee beans, while some have found they're lower and others have concluded that the best antioxidants come from medium-roast coffee.