Green Tea and Fertility

You maybe be aware of a recent study that has been splashed over the internet the last week or so reporting that green tea has negative affects on fertility. I just wanted to set a couple of things straight about the article.

  1. the study was performed on fruit flies NOT humans
  2. a green tea concentrate was used, NOT in the form humans would generally drink it in
  3. it was injected into the larvae of the fruit fly NOT consumed
  4. 10mg was injected – over 10,000 times the body weight of the fruit fly

Please, please be more critical of health information you read. Whilst I do agree that we need more information on therapeutic versus non therapeutic doses for the foods we’re eating, I don’t think scaring people into changing their diet based on a study with this design is helpful.

Green tea is and always will be a great antioxidant with wonderful health benefits. My only advice is to find a good quality brand.

When reading anything about food advice, keep this quote from Claude Bernard (a French physiologist) in mind; “Everything is poisonous, nothing is poisonous, it is all a matter of dose”.

Instead of making fear based decisions, read more, ask more questions, get informed.

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