WEBVTT - Why Did Victorians Think Green Tea Causes Hallucinations?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, chances are you've heard about some of

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<v Speaker 1>the potential health benefits of green tea and its extracts,

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<v Speaker 1>like antioxidants. Green tea comes from the leaves of the

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<v Speaker 1>Camellia synesis plants that have not undergone the same fermentation

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<v Speaker 1>and oxidation process used to make black tea. Green tea

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<v Speaker 1>has a higher concentration of antioxidants known as polyphenols than

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<v Speaker 1>other types of tea. But the pale brew hasn't always

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<v Speaker 1>been so hailed. Back in the Victorian era, it was

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<v Speaker 1>said to cause hallucinations. Rumors warned that sippers might see ghosts.

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<v Speaker 1>In the eighteen nineties, the land Set Medical Journal published

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<v Speaker 1>a study noting the negative effects of green tea, including

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<v Speaker 1>stomach problems and fluttering of the heart, citing a woman

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<v Speaker 1>profiled in Scottish Medical Journal who became hysterical after drinking

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<v Speaker 1>green tea on an empty stomach instant only physicians calmed

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<v Speaker 1>down by administering opium to further cement green tea's reputation.

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<v Speaker 1>Author Sheridan LeFanu, an Irish mystery writer whose eighteen seventy

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<v Speaker 1>two collection of Tales featured the aptly named Green Tea,

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<v Speaker 1>latched on to this idea and used it in the

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<v Speaker 1>short story that captured the public's imagination. Lefano's Green Tea

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<v Speaker 1>takes place in the early eighteen hundreds and recounts the

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<v Speaker 1>plight of one mister Jennings, a clergyman who sees the

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<v Speaker 1>evil spirit of a monkey and turns to his doctor

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<v Speaker 1>for help. His doctor rejects the idea that something supernatural

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<v Speaker 1>is happening, and after discovering that Jennings drinks green tea

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<v Speaker 1>before bed, the doctor claims the green tea is to blame.

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<v Speaker 1>The doctor contends that the green tea has built up

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<v Speaker 1>in Jennings body and is effecting his central nervous system,

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<v Speaker 1>causing him to hallucinate. While the story's scientific explanation that

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<v Speaker 1>green tea builds up in the body is false, it

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<v Speaker 1>didn't seem completely implausible. After all, Drinking too much of

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<v Speaker 1>some substances, like beer or other alcohol, can cause both

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<v Speaker 1>temporary and permanent issues with reality perception, and there's another

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<v Speaker 1>crucial kernel of truth. In the seventies, green tea was

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<v Speaker 1>an imported and expensive delicacy, so to increase its quantity

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<v Speaker 1>and its shelf life. Purveyors added a variety of other

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<v Speaker 1>things to the tea leaves, ranging from iron filings to

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<v Speaker 1>plants like hazelwood or hawthorne. They also supplemented green tea's

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<v Speaker 1>color by adding dye in the form of natural additives

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<v Speaker 1>like sheep dung and chemical colorance like Prussian blue. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>green tea's identity and flavor had become so muddled and

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<v Speaker 1>diluted that when tea merchants attempted to sell pure green

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<v Speaker 1>tea free from fillers, people didn't believe it was actually

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<v Speaker 1>green tea and refused to buy it. Strange additives aside,

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<v Speaker 1>regular amounts of green tea do not cause hallucinations unless

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<v Speaker 1>you drink at an ordinate amount of it or anything

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<v Speaker 1>else that contains caffeine one two nine studies from Latrobe

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<v Speaker 1>University tested people drinking various doses of caffeine and measured

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<v Speaker 1>how much it would take to actually hallucinate. Participants who

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

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<v Speaker 1>coffee were three times more likely to hear voices and

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<v Speaker 1>see objects that were not there. So, while it's technically

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<v Speaker 1>possible to hallucinate by ingesting massive amounts of caffeine via

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<v Speaker 1>green tea. It would require a great deal of the

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<v Speaker 1>beverage and it wouldn't build up in one system to

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<v Speaker 1>have a cumulative effect either, So evil monkeys aside, Green

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

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<v Speaker 1>written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>To learn more about the colorful history of green tea,

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<v Speaker 1>check out the episode of our compatriot podcast Stuff to

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<v Speaker 1>Blow Your Mind called the Myth of green Tea Hallucinations,

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<v Speaker 1>And of course, for more on this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other probably not hallucinatory topics, visit our home planet, how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com.