Teenage Girl Turns Yellow After Drinking 3 Cups Of Green Tea A Day

A teenage girl hoping to lose weight by drinking green tea ended up in a critical condition when her liver swelled and her skin turned yellow. She had bought 200 bags of green tea online and drank three cups a day for a few months before she started feeling dizzy, nauseous and suffering from joint pain. The young girl told BMJ Journal: 'Ah, green tea – it turns out that the elixir of many people's lives can be dangerous to your health. 'I had bought the green tea over the internet to lose weight. I bought 2 boxes of 100 bags of tea and was drinking about 3 cups a day for a few months. 'I had only lost a couple of pounds but then started having horrible pains in my joints, and felt very dizzy and sick.'

At first, doctors thought she had an urinary tract infection (UTI) and put her on a short course of antibiotics. However, after only taking two doses, the unidentified girl was forced to go to A&E as her skin had turned yellow and her liver began to swell. She told doctors that she hadn't taken any pills or drank any alcohol and, after thinking she had hepatitis, they studied the tea bags and found it to be the culprit.

The girl was treated with fluids and drugs through a drip which reduced the swelling. After a short treatment at the hospital, her liver function returned to normal. 

Camellia sinensis – a shrub whose leaves are used to make green tea was found to have caused the girl's problems. She concluded: 'I was very scared when I was admitted to hospital and had lots of tests, I didn't fully understand what was going on at the time. 'Now, I look back it was definitely due to the tea, I never took anything else and it all started happening after drinking the tea. I will never buy any online tea again or any weight loss pills.

'People should be more aware of what they are buying and the side effects. Most of the ingredients of the tea I bought were written in Chinese.' 

Source - Metro