Green Tea on an Empty Stomach: Elixir of Youth or Poison? Debunking the Myth
Do you drink green tea in the morning to wake up?
Be careful: in 2023, Japanese scientists from Kyoto University discovered that on an empty stomach it doubles the risk of tooth enamel erosion.
Dr. Stephen Lin , author of The Dental Diet , said:
"Green tea is an acid attack on your teeth. Add a pinch of baking soda to it to lower the pH."
But how will this affect antioxidants?
Healthy lifestyle blogger @FastAndHealthy conducted an experiment: he drank green tea on an empty stomach for 2 weeks. The result? “I lost 3 kg, but my gums started bleeding,” he wrote.
Gastroenterologist Rebecca Scritchfield explained in an interview with Well+Good :
"Tannins irritate the lining of the stomach. It's like drinking sandpaper."
But why is the incidence of gastritis lower in Japan, where people have been drinking green tea for centuries?
The secret is in combining it with mochi rice cakes, which absorb the acid.
A study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has revealed a paradox: catechins in tea slow aging but inhibit iron absorption.
Vegan Ella Woodward of Deliciously Ella admitted that green tea made her anemic:
"Now I only drink it after lunch with lemon." Nutritionist Chris Kresser criticized the trend: "The West is adopting Eastern traditions, ignoring the context. In Asia, tea is drunk with food, not instead of it."
Even the stars have faced the consequences.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow wrote on her blog Goop that she replaces coffee with green tea, but her stylist later admitted: “Her teeth started to turn yellow and she had to get them whitened.”
Dentist Mark Burhenn warned:
"Tea pigments penetrate into microcracks in enamel. Brush your teeth before drinking tea, not after."
Should you give up green tea? If you, like Twitter founder Jack Dorsey , believe in its detox effect, add milk — casein binds tannins.
But remember the warning from the treatise of the Chinese physician Shen Nong :
"A medicine taken at the wrong time becomes poison."
