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

bomb here. Chances are you've heard about some of the potential health benefits of green tea and it's extracts like antioxidants. Green tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia synesis plant that have not undergone the same fermentation and oxidation process used to make black tea. Green tea has a higher concentration of antioxidants known as polyphenols than other types of tea. But the pale brew hasn't always been so hailed. Back in the Victorian era, it was said to cause hallucinations.

Rumors warned that sippers might see ghosts. In the eighteen nineties, the Landcet Medical Journal published a study noting the negative effects of green tea, including stomach problems and fluttering of the heart, citing a woman profiled in Scottish Medical Journal who became hysterical after drinking green tea on an empty stomach. Instant only physicians calmed down by administering opium. To further

cement green Tea's reputation. Author Sheridan LeFanu, an Irish mystery writer whose eighteen seventy two collection of tales featured the aptly named Green Tea, latched onto this idea and used it in the short story that captured the public's imagination. Lefano's Green Tea takes place in the early eighteen hundreds and recounts the plight of one Mr Jennings, a clergyman who sees the evil spirit of a monkey and turns

to his doctor for help. His doctor rejects the idea that something supernatural is happening, and after discovering that Jennings drinks green tea before bed, the doctor claims the green tea is to blame. The doctor contends that the green tea has built up in Jenning's body and is affecting his central nervous system, causing him to hallucinate. While the story scientific explanation that green tea builds up in the

body is false. It didn't seem completely implausible. After all, Drinking too much of some substances, like beer or other alcohol, can cause both temporary and permanent issues with reality perception, and there's another crucial kernel of truth. In the seventies, green tea was an imported and expensive delicacy, so to increase its quantity and its shelf life, purveyors added a variety of other things to the tea leaves, ranging from

iron filings to plants like hazelwood or hawthorne. They also supplemented green tea's color by adding dye in the form of natural additives like sheep dung and chemical colorance like Prussian blue. In fact, green tea's identity and flavor had become so muddled and diluted that when tea merchants attempted to sell pure green tea free from fillers, people didn't believe it was actually green tea and refused to buy it.

Strange additives aside, regular amounts of green tea do not cause hallucinations unless you drink at an ordinate amount of it or anything else that contains caffeine one two. Nine studies from Latrobe University tested people drinking various doses of caffeine and measured how much it would take to actually hallucinate. Participants who drank nine cups of green tea or three cups of coffee were three times more likely to hear

voices and see objects that were not there. So while it's technically possible to hallucinate by ingesting massive amounts of caffeine via green tea, it would require a great deal of the beverage and it wouldn't build up in one system to have a cumulative effect either. So evil monkeys aside, Green tea is good for you in moderation. Today's episode is based on the article why the Victorians thought green tea caused hallucination its own how stuff works dot com

written by Laurie L. Dove. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clain. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.