Coffee or Tea? These are two of the beverage choices we usually have when we want a perk-me up for work or to calm yourself after a very long day in the office. Some people chose to drink tea instead of coffee being that a lot of studies show the health benefits of tea. We are not saying coffee is unhealthy, but for most people, their choice is tea when asked which one they prefer between the two. However, an article in Indian Express said that a study showed that drinking green tea often leads to a lower chance of development or lower fertility. If you are a green tea lover like many others in the world, it's time to read this carefully, as the drink you enjoy that is known to be full of antioxidants and other health benefits can affect your fertility and development when you drink often.
Researchers from the University of California-Irvine tested this theory using fruit flies. They found that excessive consumption affected the development and reproduction of the fruit fly population. According to the team, anyone should at least avoid consuming a high dose of green tea or any products with nutraceuticals which are popular are usually unregulated. Mahtab Jafari, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences said, "While green tea could have health benefits at low doses, our study and others have shown that at high doses, it may have adverse effects. Further work is needed to make any definite recommendations but we suggest that green tea should be consumed in moderation."
In the study, Jafari and her team studied the effects of the toxicity of green tea on the development and reproduction in fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The embryos and larvae were given different doses of green tea polyphenols. The larvae were given 10mg of green tea showed slow development. They were born smaller and showed a decline in the number of offspring. The dose of green tea give to the flies made them more susceptible to starvation and heat stress. However, heat stress protected them from dehydration. There was a decrease of reproductive output and about 17 percent in the lifespan. The 10 mg of green tea caused the reproductive organs to have some abnormalities like testicular and ovarian atrophy. Jafari added that they are planning to measure the total consumption and check the metabolites which can help them understand how much is the toxic dose for humans will be.
