Comment · Thu, October 25, 2018 · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
Green tea supplement ruins man's liver
What they were answering
matznerd · 19 points
L-theanine does not have this risk or reports like this. I wonder if this guy had really low quality egcg (of which there is a lot) or something else completely. I’ve heard rumors of left over residues and solvents on super cheap supplements... I try to always go with the highest quality ingredients, for green tea best I have found is Teavigo patented form. I am looking into what is going on with EGCG. For theanine there is Suntheanine, which is made in a 6-month long fermentation process that yields a bioidentical form (exactly as found in nature). Some here would say it is all the same, I disagree and prefer the peace of mind to have it come out of the cleanest process.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
Hepatotoxicity of high oral dose \(−\)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate in mice
Laboratory studies of green tea-derived preparations in rodents and dogs have also revealed toxic effects at high doses (Galati et al., 2006; Isbrucker et al., 2006). Oral bolus administration of Teavigo (a green tea polyphenol preparation containing 90% EGCG) or Polyphenon E for 13 or 9 weeks, respectively, to Beagle dogs resulted in dose-dependent toxicity and death. Vomiting and diarrhea were observed throughout both studies. In addition, 500 mg/kg, p.o. Teavigo caused proximal tubule necrosis and elevated serum bilirubin in all dogs treated. Most male dogs (2 of 3) had elevated serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. Female dogs (2 of 3), but not male dogs, had liver necrosis (Isbrucker et al., 2006). Oral administration of 2000 mg/kg,i.g. Teavigo to rats resulted in 80% mortality (Isbrucker et al., 2006). Histological analysis revealed hemorrhagic lesions in the stomach and intestine. These data suggest that high doses of EGCG can induce toxicity in the liver, kidneys, and intestine. We and others have observed hepatotoxicity of EGCG in mice following intraperitoneal administration of EGCG (Sang et al., 2005; Galati et al., 2006).
EGCG is EGCG, just like L-theanine is L-theanine... The chemistry and pharmacology are not brand-specific. Teavigo is just a high EGCG extract, and the mechanisms behind the possible hepatotoxicity are the same. It's dose-dependent. That's the main correlating factor. In fact, Teavigo would be at greater risk because of how high of an EGCG percentage it has. Vitacost could certainly have had heavy metals or other contaminants in it. However, it may have been perfectly pure. The mechanisms behind EGCG seem to have a risk all by themselves in a dose-dependent manner.