Green Tea and Fluoride - The Facts
Fluoride by itself in small quantities is actually good for the body. It helps to combat tooth decay and cavities, and possibly osteoporosis - although more studies are needed to confirm that. However, excessive amounts of fluoride may be harmful to the body. Therefore, since this particular tea contains fluoride, it has received some criticism. But in my opinion it's not as bad as it sounds, and I'll tell you why. In order for the human body to function correctly, it should ingest about 3-4mg of fluoride daily (3 for women, 4 for men). However, a tolerable amount of it can go all the way up to about 10mg per day. By the way, this is for adults 19+ years old. The younger the person, the less fluoride should be ingested. Although critics say green tea is going to cause the same problems that fluoride causes, they are leaving out one important part.
Green tea only contains about 0.3-0.4mg per 8 ounces! That means you would have to consume 10 cups per day, and you still wouldn't be going over your limit. However, there are also small amounts of fluoride in other substances as well such as meats and water. Bottom Line - Drinking 2-3 cups per day is absolutely fine. Just don't go overboard! So far I've been talking about high-quality tea, not the grocery store kind. The mass produced tea is known as "brick tea", and it's the tea that's broken up and in small tiny pieces. Studies also show the fluoride content in this kind of tea - 0.5-1.7mg per cup! What does this tell you? DRINK HIGH QUALITY TEA Stay away from the mass produced stuff, and go for the high quality stuff grown on small farms without the use of heavy pesticides. The reason brick tea is so much higher in fluoride content is because the tea plant picks up fluoride easier than other plant. Brick Tea - Pesticides = high fluoride content High Quality Tea - No/Very small amounts of pesticides = low fluoride content It's as simple as that. There are a few instances in which I will agree, tea bags definitely come in handy. So if you insist on buying tea bags , at least get them from a reliable source. A source that uses very little pesticides and takes great care of their tea. The only links I provide you with ARE reliable, I would never put put a link on my site that wasn't a trustworthy place to get tea from.
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