Health
Tea Leaves Can Steep Away Lead, Study Finds
Tea leaves pull heavy metals from water, significantly lowering the amount of lead and other dangerous compounds that people may be unknowingly drinking, a new study found.
Recent research has highlighted potential applications for used tea leaves, from biofuels to gluten-free cookies. But the new study shows a public health benefit from something that countless people are already doing. About five billion cups of tea are consumed each day around the world, according to one estimate.
“You can see the implications,” said Vinayak Dravid, a materials scientist at Northwestern and an author of the study, which was published this week. “How often do we touch billions of people?”
In many countries, the water used to steep tea is contaminated with lead from aging pipes. In the United States, nine million homes get their water through pipes that contain lead, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Lead is especially dangerous to children. Exposure can lead to developmental delays and behavioral issues.
Dr. Dravid and his team tested how different types of tea — black, white, oolong, green, rooibos, herbal, loose leaf and plain old Lipton — behaved in water with varying amounts of lead.
The tea was then allowed to steep for variable periods of time. Afterward, the scientists measured how much lead remained in the water.
Compounds called catechins in tea leaves act like “little Velcro” hooks to which lead molecules latch, said Michelle Francl, a chemist at Bryn Mawr College and the author of a book on the chemistry of tea. Dr. Francl also said that the “ridges and valleys” of the tea leaves provided the necessary surface area for that interaction.
While those properties have been known for some time, Dr. Dravid and his colleagues were the first to look at the lead-detoxifying powers of a single cup of tea. They found that black tea leaves became wrinkled after roasting and were thus best equipped to absorb heavy metals.
“Green tea and black tea had fairly equivalent amounts of metal absorbed,” said another author, Benjamin Shindel, who was a doctoral candidate at Northwestern while working on the study.
White tea, on the other hand, undergoes a much more gentle preparation. Its leaves remain smooth, offering less surface area from which to draw heavy metals from water. Herbal tea enthusiasts may be disappointed to learn that chamomile tea does a poor job of heavy-metal filtering, too, probably because it is made with chamomile flowers, not tea leaves.
Still, these distinctions between different types of tea were not the most relevant factor. “It’s much more important how long you’re brewing the tea for,” Dr. Shindel said.
The researchers found that steeping a cup of black tea for five minutes could remove 15 percent of lead from the water, which is helpful, but there is “no safe level” of lead exposure, according to the E.P.A.
“With lead and other contaminants, any decrease is meaningful to some extent, especially if you have a lack of resources or infrastructure that would already remediate some of these problem materials,” said Caroline Harms, who was an undergraduate student of Dr. Dravid at Northwestern while working on the study.
The longer the steeping time, however, the more bitter the resulting tea. Last year, Dr. Francl caused a minor international scandal by suggesting that adding salt to tea could mitigate its bitterness. But even that controversial chemistry hack has its limits. “It’s not really drinkable after 10 minutes of steeping tea, and no amount of salt is going to help that,” she said.
Some samples in the study had to be steeped for 24 hours, which would render the tea undrinkable.
The study’s authors said they were less motivated to make public health prescriptions for policymakers than to study a hidden benefit of a global habit.
The researchers estimated that a country where people drank large amounts of tea would have about 3 percent less lead ingestion from the water supply than a (hypothetical) identical country that did not drink any tea.
“How wonderful,” said Henrietta Lovell, the founder of the Rare Tea Company. Ms. Lovell, who supplies teas to exclusive restaurants, pointed out that tea had been used in China for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. “The more I learn about tea, the more fabulous and fascinating it becomes,” Ms. Lovell said.
Dr. Francl believes that the new findings could eventually pave the way to a scalable method of making sure people aren’t ingesting heavy metals. “Given that clean water is such a global issue,” she said, “if there was a way to take this proof of concept and tweak it to produce potable water at the end, that would be pretty good.”
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Fully dressed in her elegant wedding gown before her ceremony, a determined bride made a surprise visit to her hospitalized mother just hours before getting married.
The heartfelt moment came after it was clear her mother’s medical condition would unfortunately prevent her from attending the big day in person, Caters News reported.
Laetitia Obry of Gonsans, France, refused to let the difficult circumstances steal a family milestone from them.
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Her journey was filmed by her sister, Oceane, who captured the bride as she traveled for two hours to get to the hospital to be with her mom.
Despite the tight schedule, Obry was determined to spend some precious moments with her mother before heading to her wedding.
Daughter Laetitia Obry of Gonsans, France, shown with her husband-to-be, said that despite the length of the trip and the tight time frame, there was no way she was missing the chance to see her mom on her wedding day. (Caters)
The touching footage shows Obry entering her mother’s hospital room in full bridal attire — prompting an immediate and emotional reaction from her mother, who was seated in a chair.
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The room filled with overwhelming joy as the pair embraced and shared a heartfelt, unforgettable moment together, the video shows.
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Obry said that although the journey was long and the actual visit was too brief, it was a moment she simply could not miss on one of the most important days of her life, Caters reported.
The bride, dressed in her wedding gown, made a surprise visit to her hospitalized mother just hours before her wedding ceremony after her mother was unable to attend the big day. (Caters)
This moving video resonated deeply online, prompting viewers to share their own experiences.
One user recalled a similar story.
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“My mother was hospitalized too,” wrote the commenter.
Another user said her mother was hospitalized, too. “She cried, pleaded and begged the doctors to let her leave for just a few hours for my wedding,” the person shared. (iStock)
“She cried, pleaded and begged the doctors to let her leave for just a few hours for my wedding.”
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The writer went on, “They finally agreed after she signed a medical waiver. Because of that compromise, she was able to stay until the cake cutting before returning to the hospital like Cinderella before midnight. It was magical.”
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Higher levels of vitamin C were linked to healthier brain structure in older adults, suggesting a potential role for nutrition in brain aging.
That’s according to new research from Japan, published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The observational study included 2,044 participants living in Hirosaki City, Japan, who were originally included in a study exploring dementia and heart disease risk. The average age was 69, and 61% of them were female.
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The researchers measured the participants’ vitamin C levels using blood samples and performed MRI scans to calculate the volume of gray matter and white matter in their brains.
Even after accounting for external factors like age, smoking habits, diabetes and other lifestyle behaviors, they found that those with lower vitamin C levels appeared to have lower brain tissue volumes and weaker structural network patterns.
Higher levels of vitamin C levels were linked to healthier brain structure in older adults, suggesting a potential role for nutrition in brain aging. (iStock)
“Our study demonstrates that older adults with higher blood levels of vitamin C tend to have better-preserved brain structure (gray matter) and stronger connections within the default mode network (DMN), a crucial brain network involved in memory and cognitive function,” Tomohiro Shintaku, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Radiology Graduate School of Medicine at Hirosaki University, told Fox News Digital.
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“While diets rich in vitamin C are known to lower the risk of cognitive decline, our study is the very first to demonstrate a direct association between actual blood plasma vitamin C levels and the structural connectivity of the DMN,” he added.
This network is often affected by conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression, according to the researchers.
The researchers measured the participants’ vitamin C levels using blood samples and performed MRI scans to calculate the volume of gray matter and white matter in their brains. (iStock)
The vitamin C measurement was more accurate than studies that relied on dietary estimates, the researchers noted.
“What I found most fascinating is that we could detect such clear associations between a single nutritional factor (vitamin C) and large-scale brain networks in a robust cohort of over 2,000 older adults,” Shintaku said. “It highlights how significantly our everyday dietary habits might impact brain structure.”
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The study underscores the importance of obtaining vitamin C from the daily diet, as humans cannot synthesize it on their own, the researchers noted.
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“Our findings suggest that maintaining optimal vitamin C levels through a healthy diet — rich in citrus fruits, berries, tomatoes and green leafy vegetables — could be a simple yet powerful way to support brain health as we age,” Shintaku said.
Those with lower vitamin C levels appeared to have lower brain tissue volumes and weaker structural network patterns. (iStock)
The study did have some limitations, the researchers noted.
“Because our study is observational and cross-sectional, we can only show an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship,” Shintaku told Fox News Digital. “Other limitations include relying on a single blood measurement per participant.”
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Other external factors, such as dietary intake, body mass index and socioeconomic variables, could have played a role in the outcomes.
Also, the link was relatively modest compared to established risk factors like high blood pressure and blood sugar, the researchers noted.
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Findings from other, larger studies, including UK Biobank research with more than 9,000 people, suggest that vitamin C is just one of several factors that may influence brain health.
Because the participants were almost all older Japanese adults, the findings may not be generalized to other populations.
“It is best viewed as a signal that vitamin C status may be one piece of a much larger brain-health picture.”
“This study found an association between higher plasma vitamin C levels and MRI markers of brain health, including gray matter volume and connectivity in the default mode network, which is involved in several cognitive functions,” Dung Trinh, MD, an internal medicine physician and founder of the Healthy Brain Clinic, commented to Medical News Today.
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“That said, the study does not prove that vitamin C prevents cognitive decline or that taking supplements will improve brain health. It is best viewed as a signal that vitamin C status may be one piece of a much larger brain-health picture.”
Ultra-processed foods linked to dementia risk
Amen Clinics Associate Medical Director Dr. Eboni Cornish joins ‘Fox & Friends First’ to discuss a study revealing a 58% higher dementia risk and 46% increase in cognitive impairment from consuming ultra-processed foods.
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Veteran New York news anchor Bill Ritter revealed Friday that he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, bringing an end to his more than two-decade run behind the WABC-TV anchor desk.
Ritter, 76, who has anchored the station’s 6 p.m. newscast in New York City since 2001, revealed during Friday’s Eyewitness News broadcast that it would be his final night anchoring the program.
“After a series of tests, my doctors have told me I have Alzheimer’s,” Ritter said during the broadcast.
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“It’s early-stage Alzheimer’s, and they say the treatments I’m getting are keeping it at bay, for now,” he continued. “But there is no guarantee, because there’s no cure yet for Alzheimer’s.”
Veteran New York news anchor Bill Ritter announced that he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and is stepping away from the WABC-TV anchor desk. (Linda Rosier/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
“So, unless someone finds an amazing cure, and soon, tonight will be the last newscast I anchor,” he added.
According to ABC7, Ritter joined WABC-TV in 1998 after an extensive journalism career that included work at the Los Angeles Times, local television stations in California and positions with ABC News.
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He began anchoring the station’s 11 p.m. Eyewitness News broadcast in 1999 and was added to the flagship 6 p.m. newscast in 2001. He also anchored the station’s 5 p.m. broadcast for several years.
Bill Ritter has anchored WABC-TV’s 6 p.m. newscast in New York City since 2001. (Heidi Gutman/Disney via Getty Images)
ABC7 reported that Ritter will remain with the station in a new role focused in part on reporting about Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions, as well as their impact on patients and families.
“For decades, Bill Ritter has covered and led New Yorkers through the stories that matter most,” WABC-TV General Manager Marilu Galvez said in a statement.
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“A defining presence at ABC7, he has done so with exceptional insight, integrity and, most of all, heart, earning the love and respect of viewers and colleagues alike,” she continued.
“While he is stepping away from daily anchoring, he will continue to be an integral part of our ABC7 family, including sharing personal updates and providing resources to help others impacted by Alzheimer’s better understand the disease and the resources available to them.”
Bill Ritter, Eyewitness News Anchor, WABC-TV, speaks onstage at the ROAR Forward Summit at Hearst Tower on November 19, 2024 in New York City. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Hearst)
“Bill is strong, brilliant, and resourceful, and we look forward to his continued reporting on Eyewitness News,” Galvez added.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani responded to Ritter’s announcement by wishing the veteran broadcaster and his family “strength in the days ahead.”
“For decades, Bill Ritter has been a trusted presence in New Yorkers’ homes, helping us make sense of the news that shape our city,” Mamdani wrote on X. “
“His courage in sharing his Alzheimer’s diagnosis will help countless families facing the same challenge feel less alone,” he continued. “Wishing Bill, his loved ones, and everyone affected by Alzheimer’s strength in the days ahead.”
Ritter’s colleagues also reacted to his announcement.
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WABC-TV reporter Lucy Yang paid tribute to Ritter’s professionalism and dedication during his decades-long career at the station.
“For decades, I’ve reported for his show and even filled in, anchored w him,” she posted on X. “He never gave less than 110% I salute you. I thank you. And I will pray for you.”
Lee Goldberg, the station’s chief meteorologist, said Ritter’s influence would continue long after he stepped away from the anchor desk.
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“He preaches be kind, take care of each other, & we’re all in this together,” Goldberg said on X. “Now, in addition to doing these things for himself & his loving family, he’ll build on his legendary legacy by helping millions who share his battle.”
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“You’re a saint, and my hero @billritter7,” he added. “Love you.”
Ritter also noted during the broadcast that his father died of Alzheimer’s disease in 1998 after battling the illness for years.
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