Do You Trust Your Tea?
A time-honored panacea with an elaborate history, tea —green, black, white, oolong (my favorite!), herbal, pu-erh— is one of the best herbal remedies to add to any wellness arsenal. The antioxidant, known as epigallocatechin gullet (EGCG), in tea has been shown to kill bacteria, inhibit viruses, improve insulin sensitivity, improve digestion, and has recently been found to reduce the risk of cognitive impairment by 50 per cent in older individuals and even as much as 86 per cent for those at risk for Alzheimer’s [1-5].
It’s soothing comfort and ailment fighting power has brought it much acclaim so it’s no surprise that tea is the second most commonly consumed beverage in the world (water being the first). Due to such a large market, there is an endless repertoire of tea brands and companies. I used to give high praise to the ones that tout themselves as “natural” and “organic” but after some research, it’s pretty clear that you should always be wary of these claims and investigate them on your own to be sure you’re getting the quality product you’re paying for. Luckily, trying to find the best has led me to some information I’d like to share to ensure you also get the best quality tea out there!
Tea Bags
Now I’m sure you wouldn’t think the bags holding your precious tea cargo would have any effect on the toxicity of your drink but… they do.
In the past 7 years we’ve experienced the BPA-free wave of water bottles, food containers, and more recently, canned goods such as coconut milk and tomato paste.
photo via underground health report
So, why have companies been creating tea wrapped in those pyramid shaped plastic tea bags? To cut some costs and add more of an aesthetic charm to showcase the tea leaves, of course. But definitely not for any added benefits to your health.
These plastic tea bags contain traces of bisphenol-A (BPA), bisphenol-S (BPS), and phthalates (chemical compounds from phthalic acid that are added to plastic to make them more durable and flexible). Although the tea bags are made from plastics with very high melting points (food grade nylon or polyethylene terephthalate [PET]), according to Dr. Ray Fernando, professor and director of polymers and coatings at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, we should be worried about another temperature point: ‘glass transition’ temperature (Tg).
The glass transition point of PET is about 169 degrees Fahrenheit while nylon’s breakdown point is even lower. So the molecules of the previously mentioned compounds may very well be broken down and leached into your tea as you let it steep in 212 degree boiling water. Those “luxurious mesh bags” are not worth the hype. Is anything ever really worth the hype?
But what about paper bags, you ask? Unfortunately, a method for treating tea bags and coffee filters with latex is also practiced to prevent tears denying tea leaves and coffee grounds to pull a Zac Efron and break free. The compound used is epichlorohydrin. When epichlorohydrin comes in contact with water (hydrolyzes) it becomes the carcinogen 3-MCPD. This is the same compound found in foods that are highly processed —particularly vegetable oils refined at high temperatures, some soy sauces, and palm oil— and have been linked to organ damage in animal tests [6].
(Although the 2 in vivo studies mentioned in the article have found that 3-MCPD does not produce genotoxicity in vivo, the studies that did find the compound mutagenic in vitro is enough for me to steer clear of epichlorohydrin entirely. There are so many other things trying to kill me in the world, I’m not taking any chances with something I can choose not to buy.)
So if grocery store tea doesn’t have the greatest options, then the way to go is with pricey loose leaf tea, right? Mmmm, not so fast.
Pesticides
By now we’re all pretty wary of “the dirty dozen,” (if not, click here head over to EWG to see what fruits and vegetables carry the most pesticide residue) but did you ever consider the fact that the tea leaves you’re steeping can also be heavy carriers of pesticide residue?
Again, I didn’t, until I did some snooping of my own! What’s the point of drinking tea for its health benefits when it’s filled with counteractive carcinogens, neurotoxins, and endocrine disruptors!? You might as well just shoot yourself in the foot while you’re at it. (Please, don’t do that.)
From what I’ve learned just from taking part in our capitalist economy is that usually, demand and quality are inversely related. Read on at your own risk to see how it happens with our beloved health tonic that is tea.
Worldwide tea production has significantly increased in the past 10 years, from 3.89 million tons in 2006-2008 to 5.06 million tons in 2013 [7].
Regulations of pesticides in tea exporting countries (China, India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka are the major exporters) often lack rigorous pesticide laws and training resources for pesticide inspectors and users. Many developing countries, without internationally sponsored programs, forego or limit pesticide control programs leaving them to use older, cheaper, and more toxic chemicals that can be made within the country itself. With rapid growth, trying to keep up with demand, lack of resources and knowledge of the law it’s even harder to keep pesticide use in check [8].
But a great driving force of these practices (because of such high demand) is the deception these tea companies take part in. I mean, really, would you buy certain teas if you knew what was in them?
A famous case involves the brand Teavana, whose teas were found to have as much as 23 pesticides (in one of their most expensive teas). The rationale behind their high-price point was that their “healthier” loose leafed teas were pesticide-free. So much for that… *(As stated at the very top of the research paper, Glaucus Research Group was short Teavana, so they did have a vested interest in the company taking heavy losses in the market and it does make them biased. However, Teavana had failed to refute the evidence with any hard facts and instead chose to skirt its way around the truth with ambiguous evasive reports [9].
photo from SeekingAlpha
(Click the link if you want to see the all the results of the pesticides in the teas)
Another study by Greenpeace India in 2014, according to beyondpesticides.org, “found that 94% of the tea samples tested in India contained at least one of 34 different pesticides, while over half contained a toxic cocktail of more than 10 different pesticides…on tests of 49 branded and packaged teas…popular brands included [were] Twinings and Lipton.”
“Residues found included DDT,” a carcinogen, mutagen, and endocrine disrupter banned here in the U.S. but still used in India and China to control pests in tea crops, “and endosulfan” a pesticide banned by the U.S., China, the EU and 144 other countries due to its links to impaired fertility and harm to unborn babies and its toxicity to the nervous system, kidney, liver, and male reproductive organs in animals [10].
Welp, now how is anyone supposed to get the reparative boost all these online articles and journal studies publicize?
So, where should you get your tea?
Tips to ensure you’re getting the quality you’re paying for:
1) Try to go for loose-leaf teas whenever possible.
Find tea without bleached paper tea bags and completely avoid plastic tea bags. If you do use tea in paper bags, verify that the company publicly states they don’t use epichlorohydrin.
2) Research where and how the tea leaves are grown, picked and packaged. Look for organic certification logos on packaging.
Tea brands I trust are as follows…
Herbal Tea
As mentioned in the ACV Wellness Shot post, Traditional Medicinal Herbal Tea is the go-to herbal tea brand. They have great combinations of herbs that honestly support what they claim to. Throat Coat and Everday Detox are must-have staples in the pantry. If you ever have a ball-out weekend hanging out with your near-alcoholic friends, the Everyday Detox blend will save your life and liver the Monday after. You’ll thank me later 😉
Matcha
Hibiki-An is a treasure trove of tea. They source their tea directly from Uji in Kyoto, Japan; the birthplace of Japanese tea. Not only is their loose-leaf tea some of the best quality green tea I’ve ever had, but their matcha is so smooth, rich, and lacking in bitterness I can immediately tell when I drink lower-grade matcha tea (I swear, I’m not as pretentious as that sounds). I know it seems pretty outrageous to pay $58 for 120g of ground up tea leaves but the price you pay for organic matcha, made from tea leaves picked only once a year, from a tea farm in Japan, is totally worth it. So much so, I even proclaimed my gross spending on Twitter as an achievement. They provide brewing instructions and even added a free sample packet of their Tencha tea with my order of matcha and sencha! The number one tea guy I know (Josh) found them, and he never lets me live it down.
I most recently stumbled upon Mizuba Tea. A tin of their matcha is currently sitting in a nook of my refrigerator. They also source their matcha from a 100-year old family matcha tea firm that is JAS-certified organic in Uji, Japan. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it was a neighboring, if not the same, farm Hibiki-An sources from. Josh bought a matcha powder from Amazon and putting the two side by side, you could easily tell the difference (the organic matcha from Mizuba was less bitter and grainy with more of a deep green color, while the “premium organic” matcha from Thailand had sort of a brownish tint, less frothy, and was definitely more bitter).
Maiko and Horaido Tea Shop are also great sources of high-quality matcha (& other loose leaf specialty teas). I’ve never bought from either of the two but I’m going to give Maiko’s ‘Kotobuki’ matcha a try next.
Bagged & Loose-leaf
Rishi Tea is another great organic tea. We don’t have any in the pantry, but it’s the only tea we drink at restaurants and cafes.
Numi Tea has been using organic practices on their tea farms since 1987. They use compostable paper filter tea bags but also offer loose leaf teas as well. No artificial or even natural flavors are used to enhance the flavors of their 100% real ingredient tea (not a feat that many tea companies can claim to do). My favorite is the Emperor Pu-erh. But what I love the most about Numi is their compassion for the community that picks their organic black tea on the Tonganagaon Tea Estate —the largest organic, fair trade tea estate in all of India. ‘Together for H2OPE’ does not just provide new infrastructure by upgrading contaminated wells and latrines to give their tea farmers and their families access to clean drinking water but they go the extra mile to educate and help create habits to ensure residents can continue to enjoy safe drinking water when they leave. If that’s not deliberate healing, I don’t know what is.
Well, I hope you found this somewhat useful for the next time you buy some tea. If there are any tea companies I didn’t mention but should please share them in the comments below! Ta-ta for now!
xx,
Roselle
(from the former Heal Deliberately wellness blog archives April 27, 2017)
All opinions are my own, I didn’t receive any compensation for writing this. However, the affiliate links allow us to make commission should you choose to buy the teas from Amazon (at no extra cost to you!) to support this blog.
[1] Sakanaka, S., Juneja, L. R., & Taniguchi, M. (2000). Antimicrobial effects of green tea polyphenols on thermophilic spore-forming bacteria. Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, 81-85. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389172300800389
[2] Lee, H. J., Lee, Y. N., Youn, H. N., Lee, D. H., Kwak, J. H., Seong, B. L., . . . Song, C. S. (2011). Anti-influenza virus activity of green tea by-products in vitro and efficacy against influenza virus infection in chickens. Poultry Science, 91(1), 66-73. doi:10.3382/ps.2011-01645
[3] Liu, K., Zhou, R., Wang, B., Chen, K., Shi, L., Zhu, J., & Mi, M. (2013). Effect of green tea on glucose control and insulin sensitivity: a meta-analysis of 17 randomized controlled trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 98(2), 340-348. doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.052746
[4] Wang, H., Wen, Y., Du, Y., Yan, X., Guo, H., Rycroft, J. A., . . . Mela, D. J. (2009). Effects of Catechin Enriched Green Tea on Body Composition. Obesity, 18(4), 773-779. doi:10.1038/oby.2009.256
[5] L. Feng, M. -S. Chong, W. -S. Lim, Q. Gao, M. S. Z. Nyunt, T. -S. Lee, S. L. Collinson, T. Tsoi, E. -H. Kua, T. -P. Ng. Tea consumption reduces the incidence of neurocognitive disorders: Findings from the Singapore longitudinal aging study. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 2016; 20 (10): 1002 DOI: 10.1007/s12603-016-0687-0
[6] Stephen Robjohns, Richard Marshall, Michael Fellows, George Kowalczyk; In vivo genotoxicity studies with 3‐monochloropropan‐1,2‐diol. Mutagenesis 2003; 18 (5): 401-404. doi: 10.1093/mutage/geg017
[7] Chang, K. (2015). World tea production and trade: Current and future development. Rome, Italy. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4480e. pdf
[8] Ecobichon, D. J. (2001). Pesticide use in developing countries. Toxicology, 160(1-3), pp. 27-33. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/11246121
[9] https://seekingalpha.com/article/1032681-dont-believe-us-test-the-teas-yourself?page=2
[10] Cone, M., & News, E. H. (2010, June 10). Endosulfan to Be Banned, Pesticide Poses “Unacceptable Risks,” EPA Says. Retrieved April, 2017, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/endosulfan-banned-epa/