As the fragrant aroma of your brewing tea absorbs into your nostrils whilst your teabag is brewing in hot water. Did you know you are also brewing 11.6 million microplastics at the same time….and poisoning yourself? In this episode, Jen explains why you need to stop using teabags, how they are poisoning you and what you can do instead.
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SHOWNOTES
According to researchers at McGill University in Montreal, a single plastic teabag submerged in brewing temperature water can release 11.6 billion microplastics.
Episode 11 and I spoke all about tea and how to make it healthy.
I’ve used loose leaf green tea for decades.
Tea bags are porous sachets that contain tea leaf particles during the brewing process. They are commonly made from plastics such as nylon or PET polyethylene terephthalate. The same material as your plastic water bottle. Microplastics have been reported in teas thousands of times higher than those of other even plastic bottles.
Heating the tea bag exacerbates the release of the toxins
What’s the danger?
Christopher Zangmeister, a chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology says microplastics have even been linked to hormone imbalances, increased allergies, immune system disorders and even cardiovascular diseases.
Tea bags can’t be put into our home compost bins.
Experts say go for the cotton tea bags. However, cotton is a highly sprayed and bleached crop and nearly all of them are heat-sealed with a blob of plastic, so they don’t come apart while you’re making your brew.
Shops like Aldi in Australia have changed over to tea bags made from PLA (PLA stands for Polylactic Acid).
PET plastic is a petroleum-based plastic while PLA plastic is a bioplastic typically made from fermented plant starch.
While PET plastic can be easily recycled, PLA is more difficult to recycle and requires a special facility in order to be composted.
How long does it take to break down PLA?
In the wild or in landfill, it takes at least 80 years for PLA to decompose, which means that in the sea and on land, it contributes not only to conventional petroleum-based plastics but also to environmental pollution from plastics and above all microplastics.
HEALTHY LIFE HACKS
The Healthy Life Hacks I want to share with you today are:
- Stop using tea bags – use loose-leaf tea in a pot or stainless tea infuser or even a non-toxic food-safe cotton muslin fabric as a reusable tea bag.
Did you enjoy the podcast today? Please let me know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Every month I draw one lucky reviewer to have a free one-hour consultation with me. Also, remember to subscribe wherever you’re tuning in from so that you always catch the next episode.
Are you looking for more great resources? Get a free copy of my Feed Your Body ebook here and be sure to explore my blog while you are there.
