|
Green Tea & Fluoride
Green tea, like all
teas made from the Camellia sinensis bush, contains fluoride, a
natural compound that hardens tooth enamel and helps prevent cavities.
And that worries some people who think the American public is already
“over-fluoridated.” Fluoride is added to our drinking water, toothpaste,
mouthwashes, and sometimes even our grape juice, and has been blamed for
ailments ranging from allergies to cancer. Yet the Centers for Disease
Control insists that the only downside to too much fluoride is the
possibility of developing fluorosis, a permanent discoloration of the
teeth caused by overexposure when the teeth are just developing.1
The Fluoride Content of Green Tea Leaves
For
those who are still worried about the fluoride in green tea, here’s what
your need to know. Tea plants accumulate fluoride in their leaves over
time, so the oldest leaves contain the most fluoride, while the youngest
contain the least. Therefore, white tea (which is made from youngest
leaves and buds) is your best bet if you’re trying to take in as little
fluoride as possible. Green tea that is made from older leaves, oolong
tea and black tea have slightly more fluoride. The highest amount of
fluoride is found in brick tea2, a lower quality tea made from the oldest
tea leaves which are molded into the shape of a brick (thus its name).
Brick tea is the one to watch out for, as symptoms of fluorosis have
been seen in Tibetan children and adults who drink large amounts of this
kind of tea.3
How Much Is Too Much?
To
put the tea-fluoride question into perspective, consider that the DRI
(daily recommended amount) of fluoride is 3 mg. An entire liter of green
tea contains only about half that amount, or between 1.2 and 1.7mg.
Black tea contains roughly the same amount of fluoride and oolong tea
slightly less. So even if you drank 7 eight-ounce cups of green, black
or oolong tea every day, your fluoride intake would still be within the
“safe zone.”
For the Super Fluoride-Conscious
But
if you’re still worried about the fluoride content of tea, here’s an
easy fix: Make your tea from white tea leaves and bottled water that
doesn’t contain fluoride. The fluoride content of tea that’s prepared
this way should be practically nonexistent.
1
Centers for Disease Control. MMWR: Recommendations
and Reports: Recommendations for Using Fluoride to Prevent and Control
Dental Caries in the United States August
17, 2001 / 50(RR14);1-42. Accessible at:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5014a1.htm
2
Cao
J, Zhao Y, Liu J, et al. Brick tea fluoride as a main source of adult
fluorosis. Food Chem Toxicol. 2003;41(4):535-42.
3
Cao
J, Bai X, Zhao Y, et al. The relationship of fluorosis and brick tea
drinking in Chinese Tibetans. Environ Health Perspect.
1996;104(12):1340-43.
|
Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D. presents
GreenTeaLibrary.com,
the most comprehensive collection of scientific information
describing the health benefits of green tea. |
|
