September 25, 2015 — The British Medical Journal has published a case report of a 16 year-old teenager who developed acute hepatitis after drinking green tea supplements for weight-loss.
The girl said she had ordered 200 bags of green tea from China and was drinking three cups of tea for a few months. She had only lost a few pounds before she started having horrible joint pain, feeling dizzy and sick. Her skin also turned yellow — a symptom of jaundice, a symptom of liver damage.
After she was hospitalized, doctors struggled with her diagnosis. It was only after she mentioned drinking three cups of Chinese green tea she bought online did they make the connection.
After being diagnosed with acute hepatitis (sudden liver inflammation), it took her two months to recover. In her own words:
“Now I look back it was definitely due to the tea, I never took anything else and it all started happening after drinking the tea. I will never buy any online tea again or any weight loss pills.”
Tragically, this is not the first time green tea weight-loss supplements have been linked to liver damage. The doctors noted that dozens of cases have been linked to green tea extracts, powders, and infusions — especially those containing epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and epicatechin.
About two years ago, an outbreak of acute hepatitis was linked to OxyElite Pro weight-loss pills. By April 2014, at least 100 people in 16 states had developed liver damage. One woman in Hawaii died, 47 were hospitalized, and three needed liver transplants.
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