When Not to Drink Green Tea

Most of us are aware that there are a myriad of health benefits associated with drinking green tea.
There are studies linking green tea to fighting cancer, preventing
cardiovascular disease, fighting infections, the list goes on. What you
may not know is that there are certain situations when it could be wise
to avoid or reduce the amount of green tea you drink.

If you are a woman you have probably been informed of the importance
of having enough folate (natural type of B vitamin) in your diet. If
you are considering becoming pregnant or you already are pregnant,
folate can decrease the chances of the baby developing very serious
conditions known as neural tube birth defects. These are conditions
where the fetus' spine does not close correctly during pregnancy. This
in turn causes the brain, spinal cord and/or their coverings to not
fully develop. Due to the seriousness of the situation and the efficacy
of folic acid (man-made type of B vitamin) to reduce it's occurence,
women are often advised to supplement their diets with folic acid. If
you are a man, you may have been advised to take folic acid to prevent
heart disease or certain types of cancers.

Okay, back to the green tea. Green tea contains a chemical called EGCG (epigallocatechins). One of the functions of EGCG is to inactivate an enzyme called DHFR (dihydrofolate reducatase). DHFR's function is to absorb
folate (natural type of folic acid.) Ah-Ha! If you are drinking green
tea, while also taking folic acid to supplement your folate levels, you
may be losing the beneficial effect of the folic acid. Studies have been inconclusive on how much green tea causes the decrease but they do agree that the functions are at odds.

Although drinking green tea and supplementing your diet with folic
acid can be excellent health habits, you may want to check with your
physician for their opinion on doing both.

~Kerren Lynch-Gallagher, MS,NCMT,PFT

Add'l. resources:

Lopez, Jose Neptuno Rodriquez and Thorneley, Roger. "The Antifolate Activity of Tea Catechins." Cancer Research Journal. 15 March 2005.