Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze (syn. Thea sinensis L.)
Pronounced Green Tea; Camellia sinensis (kuh-MEE-lee-uh sih-NEN-sis).
Cool, dry and astringent: a bitter antioxidant leaf that clears heat and damp-heat, tightens lax and leaking tissue, and sharpens a foggy head, stimulating yet potentially depleting.
Limit in pregnancy. Moderate dietary green tea keeping total caffeine under about 200 mg per day is generally regarded as acceptable, but two modern concerns argue for restraint: caffeine crosses the placenta (high intake is associated with low birth weight and preterm risk), and green tea catechins (EGCG) inhibit dihydrofolate reductase and folate transport, potentially lowering folate availability during the critical neural-tube window. Concentrated green tea extract and EGCG supplements are not recommended in pregnancy. Separate tea from prenatal iron and folate by roughly two hours. Basis: NCCIH; CIR safety assessment; antifolate pharmacology of tea catechins (Navarro-Peran et al., Cancer Res 2005, PMID 15781612).
Caffeine passes into breast milk (roughly 0.5 to 1 percent of the maternal dose), so moderate intake of about one to two cups per day (total caffeine under ~300 mg/day) is generally compatible, but higher intake may cause infant irritability and poor sleep, and tannins can reduce maternal iron absorption. Avoid concentrated extracts while nursing. Basis: NCCIH; standard lactation references (LactMed-style caffeine data).
The dilute beverage in small cultural amounts is tolerated, but caffeine sensitivity, sleep disruption, reduced iron absorption and dental staining make routine or strong green tea inappropriate for young children. Concentrated green tea extracts are not recommended in children. Basis: modern pediatric caffeine guidance; NCCIH.
Contains caffeine (roughly 20 to 45 mg per brewed cup; matcha and strong or long brews higher). May cause insomnia, anxiety, jitteriness, palpitations and reflux; the tannins can irritate an empty stomach and reduce nonheme iron absorption. Critically, concentrated green tea EXTRACTS (not the brewed beverage) have been linked to idiosyncratic and occasionally severe liver injury, especially when high-dose EGCG is taken on an empty stomach. The gentle beverage and the concentrated standardized extract behave very differently and must not be equated.
Avoid concentrated green tea extract in liver disease, and take any extract with food rather than fasting. Use cautiously in anxiety disorders, insomnia, cardiac arrhythmia, uncontrolled hypertension, hyperthyroidism and iron-deficiency anemia. Coordinate timing and dose with the prescriber for anyone on the beta-blocker nadolol, on warfarin, or undergoing bortezomib chemotherapy. Frank cold, dry, deficient constitutions tolerate it poorly.
Camellia sinensis is a widely cultivated agricultural crop, not a wild-at-risk species, and carries no United Plant Savers concern. The stewardship issues are agricultural: pesticide residues, heavy-metal and fluoride uptake by the leaf (aluminum, lead and fluoride concentrate in older leaves), and grower labor conditions. Favor organic, third-party-tested, and fair-trade or shade-grown sources.
Not in canonical biblical texts; native to East and South Asia (southwestern China and the Assam region). Tea's medicinal use is documented from Tang-dynasty China (Lu Yu's Cha Jing, c. 760 CE) and became a cornerstone of Chinese and Japanese medical tradition (Eisai's Kissa Yojoki, 1211). It entered Western herbals such as Grieve's A Modern Herbal in the modern era.
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