2 Little-Known Facts About Cheap Tea That Could Put You In Danger (And What To Do About It)

Have you ever thought that drinking tea may not be as healthy as it seems?

Big brand tea companies have been under scrutiny for the amount of toxins substances tea contains, whether you buy it from the grocery store or even the health food store.

It comes as a shock, but many brand products have been found to contain fluoride, a neurotoxin that Europe has banned for use.

1. Fluoride In Tea?!

Camellia Sinensis is the name of a tea plant which is a fluorine accumulator and accumulates fluoride from the soil, water and air. There is much more fluoride in a lower quality tea.

It is very important to know that while fluoride is a natural mineral found in soil and water, these studies examined levels of hydroflourosilicic acid, which is a pollutant produced through phosphate mining.

What Teas Are Affected?

Most herbal teas come from the parts of various plants and are not exposed to high levels of fluoride, since not all tea comes from Camellia Sinensis.

Black And Green Tea

An average fluoride concentration of infusions prepared from decaffeinated tea have been found to be around 3.19 parts per million and ranged from 1.01 to 5.20. When prepared with tap water it was 4.19 ppm.

As you can see, these levels are extremely high. The World Health Organizations recommends that water fluoridation shouldn’t pass over 1.5 ppm.

On the other hand, herbal tea contained about 0.02-.14 ppm.

Fluoride levels are so high that tea drinkers even without the intake of fluoridated water are getting too much of this dangerous toxin.

Health Effect of Fluoride

Excess fluoride is mostly added to drinking-water and this causes fluorosis that affects the teeth and bones progressively.

Skeletal fluorosis can cause potentially severe skeletal problems including:

Bone pain
Calcified ligaments
Bone spurs
Fused vertebrae
Difficulty moving joints
Complete immobilization of joints

Severe fluorosis may even render patients immobile.

High fluoride consumption can put danger on the kidneys.

2. Pesticides-Laden Brands

Many tea growers put pesticides in order to control their crops.

Most of the tea is being grown abroad so it doesn’t always meat the safety standards for imported products.

Concerned, the Canadian Government examined popular tea brands to ensure their quality and safety.

The Canadian Government tested a lot of tea products and it turns out that eight of ten brands contained multiple harmful chemicals with on brand containing of 22 different pesticides.

Almost every brand exceeded maximum pesticide limits set by Canada’s food quality laws.

“The presence of so many pesticides on a single product and so many products that exceed the maximum residue limits for pesticides, suggests that we’re seeing very poor agricultural practices in countries, which poses risk to the environment where these products are being grown; which pose risk to the farm workers who are growing these crops, and ultimately pose risk to the Canadians who are consuming these products.” environmental lawyer David Boyd, told CBC’s Marketplace in an interview.

How To Enjoy Tea Without Fluoride

All in all, buying high quality loose-leaf products is the best way to avoid fluoride tea.

You can also switch to herbal tea, but make sure to prepare it with non-fluoridated water, and use a stainless steel or glass tea strainer.

Try to avoid artificial flavoring tea or natural tea, or tea in tea bags because these are typically flavored to compensate for lower quality, and some even contain plastics that leech into your tea.