Tea has benefits far and wide. Containing powerful antioxidants, many claim it is the cure to a plethora of ailments; however, all good things must have their limitations. Tea is no exception. And although its possession of minerals is no surprise, what may surprise you is that one of these is Aluminum (Al).
Aluminum
Although the FDA has classified Al has G.R.A.S. (Generally Regarded As Safe), it is by no means “good” for you. Many question the validity of the FDA’s claims in regard to Al, with good reason too. When levels of Al are elevated in the body, toxicity sets in that can lead to encephalopathy, osteomalacia or aplastic bone disease, proximal myopathy, increased risk of infection, increased left ventricular mass and decreased myocardial function microcytic anemia with very high levels, sudden death (HCBI). The most dangerous and common symptom is the accumulation of plaque in the brain. This plaque is insoluble and its accumulation has been linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s (Blaylock Wellness Report, Vol. 1 Issue 4). Aluminum levels (on average) are 1420 micrograms/g in of oolong tea, 576 micrograms/g in black tea, and 520 micrograms/g in green tea (Tottori Women’s College, Kurayoshi, Japan).
Don’t let this stop your daily enjoyment of tea though. Under normal conditions (normal renal function), the Al should pass through you body and you should be unaffected. Al is only absorbed by the body, it seems, when higher levels of acidity are present (Clinical Chemistry).
They look deadly, dont they?
The pH of tea is around 6.5, which is relatively neutral, neither a base or an acid. So you should be fine right? Assuming you don’t add that lemon to your iced tea. Lemons have a pH of around 2, which is highly acidic. Ergo, tea with lemon has a higher acidity leaving room for that nasty aluminum to remain in your blood and wreak havoc on your body.
Grant it, you can probably still add lemon to your tea and not suffer any of the side affects of Al toxicity. So feel free to enjoy your tea with that lovely citrus we all love. But, it sure does make you wonder. What are you really drinking?
Griffin:
Thanks. This seems well-researched and is exactly the kind of information I need. I’m writing a book Spirituality of Tea and I appreciate knowing these things to warn people. Leave it to the media to imprudently trumpet lemon in your tea. I’ve seen them encourage it for other reasons. Of course heavy metals is more important as a consideration.
It’s amazing with as much information out there about how healthy tea is for you, I meet people at least once a week that are amazed at the health benefits of consistently drinking tea.
I tell people though, drinking tea is like taking a vitamin or flossing, if you only do it now and then, you really don’t reap the health benefits. The tests that scientist use to show health benefits of tea consists of regular daily drinking of tea.
Here are some more tea health facts:
http://www.californiateahouse.com/Tea-Health-Basics/tea-health.html
Enjoy!
Griffin,
What a great post!
liza lou
I’m happy I greatly dislike the taste of citrus in my tea and that I stumbled across this blog while in my search of “What kind of tea do you put lemon in?” I heard depending on the tea you put lemon in it or cream. I’ve only ever seen ice tea with lemon.
Happy tea time!
I remember reading somewhere in a book on alkaline diet that many fruits that we would consider acidic, such as lemon, actually turn alkaline when digested. No one can deny that fruits are good for us, yet most are acidic. It is our bodies which are acidic due to our modern diet and need to be brought into an alkaline balance. So aluminum will naturally be absorbed by the body until it is brought into a more ideal ph. Tea is good for us; if adding lemon juice dramatically increases the absorption of detoxifying catechins as is claimed, I’m going for it!
Something I just found out today after posting here is that heavy metals are not easily water soluble, which is good for tea drinkers but not so good for those drinking (eating) matcha that is grown in China as opposed to Japan. Another thing to be aware of is that adding milk to tea negates its ability to keep arterial walls pliant and healthy.