Brewed tea filters some of the metals out of water

[Anonymous]

Did anyone else see the study just out that black and green tea leaves (not herbal or white tea) bond with some metal toxins in water during the brewing time. The longer it brews, the more lead, etc. binds to the leaves and is removed. There was an article in today's NYT:
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.

Link to the study is here:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.4c01030

[Anonymous]

Interesting. Is there a downside to brewing longer? Like are there negative things that leach into the water after a very long brewing time?

[Anonymous]

yup. that's the science behind those little charcoal sticks too

[Anonymous]

French press tea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Is there a downside to brewing longer? Like are there negative things that leach into the water after a very long brewing time?

According to the article, the downside is a bitter taste.