Green tea should not be combined with foods high in iron.
Iron supplements also reduce the beneficial properties of the drink.
This is the conclusion reached by scientists from Pennsylvania State University.
This was reported by Medical Daily.
What you shouldn't combine green tea with
As part of the experiment, scientists gave mice with inflammatory bowel disease foods and supplements containing iron, a deficiency of which occurs in this disease, and green tea.
Green tea is beneficial for bowel disorders due to an antioxidant called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).
It inhibits myeloperoxidase, a pro-inflammatory enzyme released by white blood cells in response to irritants.
It turns out that when green tea is combined with iron supplements or foods rich in this microelement (red meat, kale, olives), EGCG binds to iron.
Iron-bound EGCG molecules lose their ability to suppress myeloperoxidase, and the effectiveness of green tea decreases.
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease who take iron supplements and drink green tea should be aware of how one nutrient affects the other, the study authors note.
Although it was conducted on mice, the scientists believe the results are quite applicable to humans.
