Oolong is a traditional, semi-fermented Asian tea that has a refreshing taste similar to green tea, but with a slightly bitter kick – possibly making it an acquired taste for some of you.
If you find you like the taste of Oolong, it could be worth drinking it regularly for a number of reasons:
Another of Oolong teas benefits is improved liver detoxification: Recent studies found that drinking 8 cups of green tea a day can increase glutathione S-transferase (GST) levels by ‘80 percent compared to baseline’ after eight weeks(2). GST is a detoxification enzyme that plays a crucial role in aiding the removal of carcinogens and other toxins by the liver.
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Despite all this positive press about Oolong teas benefits, some feel concerned over its relatively high fluoride content.
I strongly agree that fluoride overexposure is extremely dangerous, and I go out of my way to avoid it. Nevertheless, I feel that you can enjoy oolong teas benefits safely if you understand the truth about fluoride exposure.
In this article I will briefly outline the many dangers of getting excess fluoride, and then will show you how you can drink Oolong, and enjoy all of oolong teas benefits, without having to worry about the negative effects that fluoride can cause.
The dangers of getting too much fluoride
There's a strong case for limiting your exposure to the halogen fluoride. Evidence suggests that fluoride does not prevent dental carries, and its chronic ingestion is being more and more frequently linked to a number of physical and mental diseases.
Fluoride exposure can damage the immune system, cause bone disease, cause gastrointestinal, respiratory, hormonal and reproductive problems – and ironically it will eventually discolor your teeth!
An obvious problem fluoride poses for bodybuilders and those interested in keeping lean is that fluoride is highly damaging to the thyroid. We want our thyroids working in peak condition to keep our metabolisms as high as possible so we can burn the maximum amount of fat each day.
It is astounding how many studies show that fluoride directly causes thyroid malfunction, yet further fluoridation of water supplies is being strongly pressed for.
The US National Research Council concluded in 2006 that ‘evidence of several types indicates that fluoride affects normal endocrine function or response; the effects of the fluoride-induced changes vary in degree and kind in different individuals. Fluoride is therefore an endocrine disruptor in the broad sense of altering normal endocrine function or response.’ and that “several lines of information indicate an effect of fluoride exposure on thyroid function.”(3)
How much fluoride is too much?
In the 1970s, European doctors very effectively used fluoride at doses of between 2 and 10 mg/day to suppress the overactive thyroids of hyperthyroid patients. If you live in a fluoridated zone you will be getting on average between 1.6 and 6.6 mg of fluoride /day, a dose that can suppress your thyroid!
How much fluoride does Oolong Contain?
The concentration of fluoride in tea is relatively high. Fluoride content of teas increases with the age of the leaves - white tea contains the least, green tea slightly more, Oolong and Black teas slightly more, and a tea called brick tea the most.
According to the Linus Pauling Institute, green tea contains 1.2-1.7 mg of fluoride/liter, oolong tea contains 0.6-1.0 mg/liter, black tea contains 1.0-1.9 mg/l and brick tea contains 2.2-7.3 mg/l.(4)
Obvious symptoms of fluorosis (a staining of the teeth) have been found in Tibetan children and adults who regularly drink many cups of brick tea a day, so it's clear that the fluoride in Tea can be absorbed and has the potential to cause problems.(5)
So despite all of oolong teas benefits, drinking 2 liters of Oolong could give you as much as 2mg of fluoride, a dose that's been used deliberately to suppress overactive thyroids. If you drink the 8-12 cups of Oolong a day that's being recommended for cancer prevention, you're certainly getting a level of fluoride that could marginally hinder your thyroid.
If you live in a fluoridated zone, then the extra fluoride you will be getting from your Oolong tea may well cause you serious problems…
The importance of iodine
What most anti-fluoride articles don’t mention is that the problems that fluoride, and other halogens, causes are primarily due to their displacement of iodine.
Iodine is a nutrient that is necessary for production of all thyroid hormones – when halogens like fluoride, bromide and chloride displace iodine and reduce its uptake, your thyroid function, and subsequently your metabolism, slows.
The U.S. national research council clearly expresses this in their 2006 investigation into fluoride’s effects on the thyroid:
“Intake of nutrients such as calcium and iodine often is not reported in studies of fluoride effects. The effects of fluoride on thyroid function, for instance, might depend on whether iodine intake is low, adequate, or high, or whether dietary selenium is adequate.”
These scientists conclude that the levels of fluoride needed to induce thyroid disruption was around five times higher when iodine intake was adequate(6).
The problems of fluoride exposure are likely becoming more severe because the level of dietary iodine in most Western countries has decreased in recent years.
This is mainly due to less people using iodised salt, through bromide being substituted for iodide in bread making, and obviously through wide spread water fluoridation.
The solution:
For us to happily drink a few cups of Oolong tea a day and enjoy oolong teas benefits we need to do two things:
1) Minimise exposure to fluoride from other sources.
2) Eat an iodine rich diet and/or supplement with iodine.
How to minimise overall Fluoride exposure
First, find out whether your tap water is fluoridated (can be done by a Google search) – if it isn’t you’re very lucky! If you find you're living in a fluoridated zone, you're going to have to take steps to deal with this problem (bear in mind you don’t have to do all of the below):
Use Water filters: Two types of filters which will remove more than 90% of the fluoride in water are Reverse Osmosis filters and Activated Alumina filters. Common water filters like Brita filters will not remove fluoride. Reverse Osmosis filters and Activated Alumina filters are fairly expensive, but if you search you can find decently priced ones.
Drink Spring Water: Spring water generally contains less than 0.1 ppm fluoride, 10 times less than is added for fluoridation. Some water bottles will state the fluoride content of their water on the label, for others you may have to call the manufacturer to find out.
Install a water distillation unit: Water distillation units will remove virtually all fluoride from water. These tend to be fairly expensive, but you can find small, on the counter units for under $200.
Other ways to avoid fluoride:
Try to avoid using fluoride containing anaesthetics and pharmaceuticals as these can raise blood fluoride levels.
What does an Iodine rich diet look like?
Iodine is found in most natural foods in small quantities. Foods that contain reasonably high amounts of iodine are dairy products, eggs, fish and strawberries.
If you’re low on iodine and trying to get your levels up then it would be a good idea to emphasise foods very high in iodine such as seaweed. There's a wide selection of seaweeds to try including Dulse, Wakame, Kombu, Nori, Arame, Dulse, Hijiki, Purple Laver, Agar-agar, Sea-cabbage, Mekabu and Sea Palm. Miso soup made with Wakame is a good choice for a daily meal.
Iodine supplements:
Iodoral tablets and Lugol’s solution are excellent supplements that have been tried and tested to correct iodine deficiency. The iodoral tablets are formulated so they won't cause gastric distress. Alternatively you could take kelp tablets.
Update 12/2010: iosol iodine is now the form of iodine that I most highly recommend.
Other possible issues with drinking Oolong…
Potential for stomach upset:
A friend of mine regularly travels out to Hong Kong on business and often brings me back a pack of great tasting Oolong tea that her work colleagues give to her. Despite praise for oolong teas benefits, the package comes with advice from her Chinese colleagues that you should drink a maximum of three cups of Oolong a day or you are setting yourself up for stomach upset.
The tea that they drink most of in Hong Kong is apparently Jasmine and, although this isn’t being promoted as a fat loss aid like Oolong, it contains many of the same fat loss components as Oolong, such as caffeine, and it is less likely to cause gastric distress.
You don’t have to just drink Oolong!
There are a lot of drinks out there that have been shown to aid in weight loss, improve antioxidant status, improve insulin sensitivity and fight cancer. These all work in slightly different ways, so feel free to drink a wide variety!
Consider drinking Japanese green tea.
The Japanese teas have been found to contain less fluoride than Chinese green teas. This is simply because the Japanese soil has lower levels of fluoride. Examples of Japanese green teas are Sencha, Gyokuro and Matcha. Oolong teas benefits are very similar to those of these green teas.
Consider drinking white tea.
White teas are made from the youngest leaves of all teas; therefore they have a lower fluoride level. White tea is traditionally prized above the other teas in Asia for longevity and health improvement.
Drink red wine. Red wine actually contains higher levels of cancer fighting antioxidants than tea, and moderate alcohol consumption has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control.
Drink coffee! Despite the negative press surrounding coffee, regular coffee consumption has been shown to protect against liver damage, protect against nerve damage, fight depression, inhibit tumor growth, enhance I.Q. and protect against hormonal diseases like breast cancer.
Despite oolong teas benefits, it’s likely coffee will be better for fat loss than Oolong as it contains considerably more caffeine.
Final advice:
So, if you avoid getting too much fluorine and make sure you’re not low on iodine, you won’t have anything to worry about when drinking your Oolong and enjoying oolong teas benefits.
And there’s no need to obsessively and exclusively drink Oolong because of the press surrounding oolong teas benefits at the moment – other teas, coffee and wine all have a lot of research showing they can also aid in weight loss and improve your health too.
* Ed Clements, creator of muscle-health-fitness.com, is an independent health and fitness writer who specialises in dietary, supplementation and weights training advice for improving body composition and hormone balance.
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