Catastrophic Liver Damage
Fluoride is a liver toxin in the adult mammal [Schmidt 2005, Galati 2006, Radha Krishna 2011, Kumar 2013, Patel 2013, Thangapandiyan 2013, Waugh 2015, Campos-Pereira 2017] and is also a developmental Hepatotoxin, causing DNA damage and apoptosis in human embryo hepatocytes [Wang 2004]. Green Tea and weight loss supplements using it are known to have caused catastrophic liver injury in humans, in some cases requiring liver transplantation [Gloro 2005, Bonkovsky 2006, Jimenez-Saenz 2007, Molinari 2006, Mazzanti 2009, Chen 2010, Stickel 2011, Lugg 2015]. The weight-loss herbal supplement Exolise (Arkophama, Carros, France), which also contained Camellia sinensis, was withdrawn from the market because it was linked to multiple cases of liver injury. The effects of Green Tea or its extracts on the liver include ductal metaplasia, inflammatory infiltrates, cholestasis, steatosis, and necrosis.
Altered Metabolism and Growth Inhibition
Green tea consumption decreases body mass, induces aromatase expression, and changes proliferation and apoptosis in adult male rat adipose tissue [Monteiro 2008]. Green Tea reduces Iron and Thiamine absorption [Grove 2015, Sachdev 2017]. These deleterious effects on food utilization might have been the basis of attempts to induce weight loss using Green Tea or its extracts [Sayana 2008].
Kidney Stones
Fluoride is a nephrotoxin [Pain 2017c]. Urolithiasis kills thousands of people every year and many of the urinary stones contain significant Fluoride [Herman 1958] with correlation found between drinking water, serum and urine Fluoride levels and Fluoride content of the stones [Rathee 2004].
Kidney stones Have been shown to contain up to 41,500 ppm Fluoride [Jolly 1980].
Birth Defects
Green Tea drinking has been associated with teratogenic effects including anencephaly, heart damage and spina bifida [Fedrick 1974, Correa 2000, Zielinsky 2007; 2012; 2013].
Chemical Castration
Fluoride is known to be a chemical castration agent that probably works via multiple attacks on the male reproductive system through hormone disruption [Figueiroa 2009], direct destruction of the testes, damage to the epididymis [Sun 2017] and disruption of surviving sperm mitochondrial energy production. There have been proposals to use Green Tea to deliberately reduce human population growth. Epigallocatechin gallate exacerbates fluoride-induced oxidative stress mediated testicular toxicity in rats through the activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway [Das 2015, Thangapandiyan 2015]. Reduction of female fertility by Fluoride involves damage to the ovary of mice [Yin 2015].
Damage to the Gut
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) has been linked to Green Tea with and Odds Ratio of 1.44 (95%CI 1.07–1.94) [Murao 2011]. This is not surprising given the highly corrosive effects of HF on the stomach [Koo 2004, Pain 2017d].
Skin Damage
Dermal hypersensitivity and asthma were induced in humans by green tea dust [Shirai 1994; 1997; 2003]. Damage to the Thyroid is known to adversely impact the skin.
High Blood Pressure
Green Tea ingestion causes larger acute increases in blood pressure than caffeine alone [Hodgson 1999]. High fluoride exposure increases plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels. ET-1 enhances vasoconstriction and exacerbates hypertension and atherosclerosis by aggravating cell hyperplasia and vascular smooth muscle cell migration [Sun 2016]. Hardening of the aorta is observed with increased risk of rupture and sudden death [Pain 2016b].
Chronic Pain
Chewing Green Tea in the form of Bai-mieng in Thailand has been identified as a risk factor for chronic lower back pain [Namkaew 2012]. This is not surprising since Fluoride deforms the vertebrae putting pressure on the nerves and can lead to rupture of inter-vertebral disks.
Damage to the Teeth
Green Tea displays carcinogenic potential [Bu-Abbas 1994]. Packaged Green teas have been measured with pH as low as 2.92 [Lunkes 2014, Reddy 2016]. These acid drinks cause tooth enamel erosion due to the HF formed.
Cancer
Tea accelerates the appearance of skin tumors in mice [Bogovski 1977]. Green tea consumption increases human lung cancer risk [Tewes 1990]. Green tea stimulates cell proliferation in the liver [Schmidt 2005, Bun 2006]. Tea increases the amount of glutathione S-transferase placenta-form positive liver foci in multi-organ rat carcinogenesis [Hirose 1993]. Hormonal status is known to affect cancer risks due to various toxins. High green tea consumption may be positively associated with premenopausal thyroid cancer risk, but inversely associated with postmenopausal thyroid cancer risk [Michikawa 2011]. In the presence of Copper ions, Green Tea extracts damage DNA [Malik 2003]. This might induce cancer in a healthy person, or possibly assist with targeted cancer destruction therapy. Further cancer risks associated with Fluoride ingestion from any source, including Tea drinking, are well known [Pain 2015; 2017e].
Attempts to Defluoridate Tea
Due to recognition of Fluoride as the major hazard in Tea, and the addictive devotion to Tea drinking, attempts have been made to suppress the flow of Fluoride to the brew [Kumari 2017]. Limited success was achieved, but unfortunately the technologies tried for defluoridation are very pH sensitive and can introduce risks associated with Aluminium and constituents in polymers used in adsorbents.
Harms associated with other constituents of Green Tea
Approximately 30–40% of the Green Tea leaves’ solid extract is composed of polyphenols including catechins including epicatechin, gallate-3-epicatechin, epigallocatechin, and, predominantly, gallate- 3-epigallocatechin. The toxicity and endocrine disrupting potential of some of these polyphenols has been investigated [Johnson 1999, Kao 2000]. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate increases the formation of mineralized bone nodules by human osteoblast-like cells [Vali 2007].
Researchers have sounded a note of caution with regard to the consumption by women in the third trimester of pregnancy of foods with high concentrations of polyphenols, to avoid triggering constriction of ductus arteriosus, with its potential harmful consequences, such as foetal and neonatal heart failure and pulmonary arterial hypertension of the newborn [Zielinsky 2007; 2012; 2013]. Aluminium is clearly a major hazard in Green and other Tea [Matsumoto 1976, Shu 2003, Wong 2003, Borjigin 2009, Jayawardhane 2016] and has been briefly reviewed as part of the neurotoxic hazard associated with Fluoridation [Pain 2017f]. Aluminium toxicity in association with Fluoride will be discussed in more detail elsewhere [Pain 2018a].