Green tea abuse-> hepatitis?

[Storm]

Hi guys.
Fact: i love green and white tea.
Fact: a friend of mine has been diagnosed of hepatitis C caused by green tea intoxication. He doesn't bodybuild, he just loves (loved) green tea and had several hard-n-heavy cups a day.

I've been having a look and tried to do some research but even tho i'm a researcher myself this is so far from my field of knowledge that i get kinda lost. I've found some references:

acute hepatitis (not even a friking abstract)

Hepatotoxicity (same)

If you do a quick search you'll find both positive and negative studies about the matter. I'm not too worried but i'd like to know if this only happens to "hypersensible" people, or it's a matter of dosages (and then how much is too much) etc...

So if a any of you have access to these (or other) full text i think this could be interesting for everyone.

Cheers.

PS: my friend is getting better ATM, doctors are eveluating if there is some permanent damage to the liver or not.

 

[sexnews]

I suppose TOO MUCH of anything isn't good for you.

Now where is that glass of Coke with extra ice of mine?

 

[Storm]

I suppose TOO MUCH of anything isn't good for you.

Now where is that glass of Coke with extra ice of mine?

Sure, i'm just asking where's the line. We're talking in other thread about 500ml to start noticing the good effects, and idk if one, two five littres is bad or what :wutyousay:

 

[Daniel Andersson]

Green tea (Camellia sinensis)

Side Effects and Warnings

Studies of the side effects of green tea specifically are limited.
However, green tea is a source of caffeine, for which multiple reactions are reported.

Caffeine is a stimulant of the central nervous system, and may cause insomnia in adults, children,
and infants (including nursing infants of mothers taking caffeine).
Caffeine acts on the kidneys as a diuretic (increasing urine and urine sodium/potassium levels and potentially decreasing blood sodium/potassium levels)
and may worsen incontinence.
Caffeine-containing beverages may increase the production of stomach acid and may worsen ulcer symptoms.
Tannin in tea can cause constipation.
Certain doses of caffeine can increase heart rate and blood pressure, although people who consume caffeine regularly do not seem to experience these effects in the long-term.

An increase in blood sugar levels may occur.
Caffeine-containing beverages such as green tea should be used cautiously in patients with diabetes.
In contrast, lowering of blood sugar levels from drinking green tea has also been reported in preliminary research.
Additional study is needed in this area.

People with severe liver disease should use caffeine cautiously,
as levels of caffeine in the blood may build up and last longer.
Skin rashes have been associated with caffeine ingestion.
In laboratory and animal studies, caffeine has been found to affect blood clotting, although effects in humans are not known.

Caffeine toxicity is possible with high doses.
Chronic use can result in tolerance, psychological dependence, and may be habit forming.
Abrupt discontinuation may result in withdrawal symptoms.

Several population studies initially suggested a possible association between caffeine use and fibrocystic breast disease,
although more recent research has not found this connection.
Limited research reports a possible relationship between caffeine use and multiple sclerosis, although evidence is not definitive in this area.
Animal study reports that tannin fractions from tea plants may increase the risk of cancer, although it is not clear that the tannin present in green tea has significant carcinogenic effects in humans.

Drinking tannin-containing beverages such as tea may contribute to iron deficiency, and in infants,
tea has been associated with impaired iron metabolism and microcytic anemia.

In preliminary research, green tea has been associated with decreased levels of estrogens in the body.
It is not clear if significant side effects such as hot flashes may occur.



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Chow HH, Hakim IA, Vining DR, et al. Effects of dosing condition on the oral bioavailability of green tea catechins after single-dose administration of Polyphenon E in healthy individuals. Clin Cancer Res 6-15-2005;11(12):4627-4633.
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Gao YT, McLaughlin JK, Blot WJ, et al. Reduced risk of esophageal cancer associated with green tea consumption. J Natl Cancer Inst 6-1-1994;86(11):855-858.
Henning SM, Aronson W, Niu Y, et al. Tea polyphenols and theaflavins are present in prostate tissue of humans and mice after green and black tea consumption. J Nutr 2006 Jul;136(7):1839-43.
Hodgson JM, Puddey IB, Burke V, et al. Effects on blood pressure of drinking green and black tea. J Hypertens 1999;17(4):457-463.
Lambert JD, Yang CS. Mechanisms of cancer prevention by tea constituents. J Nutr 2003;133(10):3262S-3267S.
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Maron DJ, Lu GP, Cai NS, et al. Cholesterol-lowering effect of a theaflavin-enriched green tea extract: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Intern Med 6-23-2003;163(12):1448-1453.
Seely D, Mills EJ, Wu P, et al. The effects of green tea consumption on incidence of breast cancer and recurrence of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Integr Cancer Ther 2005 Jun;4(2):144-55.
Westerterp-Plantenga MS, Lejeune MP, Kovacs EM. Body weight loss and weight maintenance in relation to habitual caffeine intake and green tea supplementation. Obes Res 2005;13(7):1195-1204.

 

[Storm]

Thanks a lot DA, although i believe that whatever happened to my friend wasn't caffeine related.

 

[philosopher]

Are you sure its hepatitis C and that its caused by the green tea, because I never heared of it. Hepatitis C is serious and could get chronic. If it gets chronic it can cause inflammation of the liver which could lead to liver failure (I'm talking years here)

 

[Storm]

philo, that's what i've been told (i haven't talked to the doctors directly).

First he was diagnosed as "temporal liver malfunction" (unknown reason).
Then hepatitis produced by (undertermined) food poisoning
And now they are "sure" it's hepatitis caused by green tea intoxication. I'm pretty sure he told me "C", anyway i believe B and A are worse?

 

[Ironslave]

I will look into this.

 

[philosopher]

philo, that's what i've been told (i haven't talked to the doctors directly).

First he was diagnosed as "temporal liver malfunction" (unknown reason).
Then hepatitis produced by (undertermined) food poisoning
And now they are "sure" it's hepatitis caused by green tea intoxication. I'm pretty sure he told me "C", anyway i believe B and A are worse?

I'm not on expert on this, but Hepatitis A is more likely. Hepatitis B and C can only be spread bij blood tot blood contact or sexual contact. Hepatitis A can get transmitted by food or drinkwater.

B and C are the worst ones to get because they can get chronic and could lead to liver failure or liver cancer.

 

[Storm]

I'm not on expert on this, but Hepatitis A is more likely. Hepatitis B and C can only be spread bij blood tot blood contact or sexual contact. Hepatitis A can get transmitted by food or drinkwater.

B and C are the worst ones to get because they can get chronic and could lead to liver failure or liver cancer.

It should be A then. Thanks

 

[Folk Artist]

I think the caffeine in green tea, in excessive amounts can lead to anxiety, abnormal heart rhythm and shakiness and they say you should limit your intake to 5 or less cups a day. Also If you are on medications, drinking green tea may create some problems and you could check with your doctor for other side effects of drinking green tea as well.

 

[Alexandoy]

I am not an authority on the subject but from what I know hepatitis is a contagious disease that can come from anything that we ingest, i.e. food and drinks. Some decades ago there was an epidemic of hepatitis in the city because of the prevalence of street food that somehow may have been contaminated by the diners themselves. The department of health said that we make sure that what we eat are clean and not handled by dirty hands. That's my take on hepatitis so maybe that tea was contaminated?

 

[Kakashi2020]

Moderation is the key to good health. To much of anything can and will harm you. It's like eat purely meat for 6 months and you'll be diagnosed with something just like eating to much vegetables, it ain't healthy or safe try eating it for six months and you'll contract a disease or something. A person needs a balance diet to be healthy.

 

[aaron]

The problem with GTE, as usual is megadosing. More is not always better and sometimes can precipitate disaster.





I've actually had a difficult time finding supplement sources that provide low doses, particularly of B-Complex, C, Magnesium, Zinc & Selenium.

 

[Heatman]

I'm not sure if green tea alone is capable of causing hepatitis. I have been on green tea for a while now and I have never had any problems with suffering from hepatitis so far. I do go for full medical check up every now and then, everything seem normal. It may be other things or what one ingest that might be the cause of the hepatitis and I'm pretty sure the sickness is sexually transmitted.

 

[Concentrix]

Hepatitis can be caused by a virus or when the liver is exposed to harmful substances such as alcohol. But, there was a teen who drank three cups of green tea a day then unfortunately developed hepatitis from it. The doctors found Camellia sinensis, a species of evergreen shrub whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea, in the girl's drink as the culprit behind her illness. So they recommended the patient to stop drinking and it worked, her liver function went normal. Furthermore, there are numerous cases that showed people get sick from ingesting tea leaf powder, tea infusions, and tea extracts. But the authors of these cases acknowledged that green tea is safe and healthy to drink because it contains an antioxidant. What really causes illness is the products that are added to the tea rather than using the freshly made leaves.

 

[Mildredtabitha]

Am not sure if it can really cause hepatitis.But green tea is rally addictive if you take regularly you can get addicted.I do not know the health benefits of tea really or its effects.