Concern over too much EGCG

I just finished reading a BBC article about a man in Texas who had been taking an EGCG (extracted from green tea) supplement for 2-3 months when he found out that his liver was in very bad shape, to the point that he had to have an urgent liver transplant. His doctors ruled out everything else and concluded that this serious injury may have been caused by the EGCG supplement.

Even though I personally don’t take EGCG, I was horrified, at first. Then I read the article, which states that drinking green tea, as I do on occasion, is perfectly safe. What you have to be careful about is its extract, known as EGCG, which apparently can be toxic at certain levels, especially, e.g., on an empty stomach AND especially for certain people. Drinking alcohol or taking “other drugs” while taking EGCG might also lead to problems.

Anyway, if you drink lots of green tea and/or take large doses of EGCG (above 800 mg/day, it seems), please have a look at the article: goo.gl/YxUa68 

Excerpt: “While millions of people take green tea supplements safely, at least 80 cases of liver injury linked to green tea supplements have been reported around the world, ranging from lassitude and jaundice to cases requiring liver transplants.” A small percentage, but I always like to be super cautious. And that is why I’m posting about this article today!

You never know…

1 Comment

  1. Thank you Margaret for this informative article. I take a green tea capsule, it has 340 mg of EGCG andI take it with food. So far so good.

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