WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Why Did Victorians Think Green Tea Causes Hallucinations?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bam here with another classic episode from the archives.

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<v Speaker 1>Every season brings a new food trend and a new

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<v Speaker 1>food demon, some dish or drink or ingredient that suddenly

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<v Speaker 1>everyone swears will cause some specific and terrible damage. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is about how, for a while, during the Victorian era,

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<v Speaker 1>that demon was green tea. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel

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<v Speaker 1>bomb here. Chances are you've heard about some of the

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<v Speaker 1>potential health benefits of green tea and it's extracts like antioxidants.

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<v Speaker 1>Green tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia synesis

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<v Speaker 1>plant that have not undergone the same fermentation and oxidation

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<v Speaker 1>process used to make black tea. Green tea has a

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<v Speaker 1>higher concentration of antioxidants known as polyphenols than other types

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<v Speaker 1>of tea. But the pale brew hasn't always been so hailed.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in the Victorian era, it was said to cause hallucinations.

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<v Speaker 1>Rumors warned that sippers might see ghosts. In the eighteen nineties,

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<v Speaker 1>the Landcet Medical Journal published a study noting the negative

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<v Speaker 1>effects of green tea, including stomach problems and fluttering of

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<v Speaker 1>the heart, citing a woman profiled in Scottish Medical Journal

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<v Speaker 1>who became hysterical after drinking green tea on an empty stomach.

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<v Speaker 1>Instant only physicians calmed down by administering opium. To further

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<v Speaker 1>cement green Tea's reputation. Author Sheridan LeFanu, an Irish mystery

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<v Speaker 1>writer whose eighteen seventy two collection of tales featured the

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<v Speaker 1>aptly named Green Tea, latched onto this idea and used

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<v Speaker 1>it in the short story that captured the public's imagination.

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<v Speaker 1>Lefano's Green Tea takes place in the early eighteen hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>and recounts the plight of one Mr Jennings, a clergyman

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<v Speaker 1>who sees the evil spirit of a monkey and turns

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<v Speaker 1>to his doctor for help. His doctor rejects the idea

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<v Speaker 1>that something supernatural is happening, and after discovering that Jennings

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<v Speaker 1>drinks green tea before bed, the doctor claims the green

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<v Speaker 1>tea is to blame. The doctor contends that the green

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<v Speaker 1>tea has built up in Jenning's body and is affecting

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<v Speaker 1>his central nervous system, causing him to hallucinate. While the

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<v Speaker 1>story scientific explanation that green tea builds up in the

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<v Speaker 1>body is false. It didn't seem completely implausible. After all,

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<v Speaker 1>Drinking too much of some substances, like beer or other alcohol,

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<v Speaker 1>can cause both temporary and permanent issues with reality perception,

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<v Speaker 1>and there's another crucial kernel of truth. In the seventies,

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<v Speaker 1>green tea was an imported and expensive delicacy, so to

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<v Speaker 1>increase its quantity and its shelf life, purveyors added a

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<v Speaker 1>variety of other things to the tea leaves, ranging from

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<v Speaker 1>iron filings to plants like hazelwood or hawthorne. They also

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<v Speaker 1>supplemented green tea's color by adding dye in the form

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<v Speaker 1>of natural additives like sheep dung and chemical colorance like

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<v Speaker 1>Prussian blue. In fact, green tea's identity and flavor had

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<v Speaker 1>become so muddled and diluted that when tea merchants attempted

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<v Speaker 1>to sell pure green tea free from fillers, people didn't

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<v Speaker 1>believe it was actually green tea and refused to buy it.

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<v Speaker 1>Strange additives aside, regular amounts of green tea do not

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<v Speaker 1>cause hallucinations unless you drink at an ordinate amount of

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<v Speaker 1>it or anything else that contains caffeine one two. Nine

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<v Speaker 1>studies from Latrobe University tested people drinking various doses of

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<v Speaker 1>caffeine and measured how much it would take to actually hallucinate.

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<v Speaker 1>Participants who drank nine cups of green tea or three

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<v Speaker 1>cups of coffee were three times more likely to hear

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<v Speaker 1>voices and see objects that were not there. So while

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<v Speaker 1>it's technically possible to hallucinate by ingesting massive amounts of

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<v Speaker 1>caffeine via green tea, it would require a great deal

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<v Speaker 1>of the beverage and it wouldn't build up in one

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<v Speaker 1>system to have a cumulative effect either. So evil monkeys aside,

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<v Speaker 1>Green tea is good for you in moderation. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is based on the article why the Victorians thought green

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<v Speaker 1>tea caused hallucination its own how stuff works dot com

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<v Speaker 1>written by Laurie L. Dove. Brain Stuff is production of

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's produced by Tyler Clain. For more podcasts from

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