The benefits of tea are endless. This beverage can boost your metabolism, promote weight loss, support memory, and improve overall wellbeing. Tea is one of the healthiest drinks, but consuming it in abundance can have a negative impact on your health. It is recommended to avoid drinking more than 3–4 cups of tea per day.

Below are 6 health issues that can happen to your body when you drink too much tea. 

1. You may feel anxious

This is a well-known fact that tea contains caffeine. The dosage of caffeine in the tea is lower than in the coffee, but when you drink too much tea, caffeine adds up. When you consume high doses of caffeine this may result in insomnia, heartburn, headaches, and anxiety. These symptoms often develop because of consuming between 100 and 200 milligrams per day. Depending on the variety of tea, between 2-10 cups of tea may contain this amount of caffeine.

When continuing your daily caffeine intake, don’t forget about caffeinated beverages. Keep tracking your caffeine intake to ensure overall wellbeing and prevent anxiety or depression. 

2. You may reduce iron absorption

Tea contains a compound called tannins. This is a polyphenol that gives drinks like tea and wine a bitter taste. This ingredient can worsen the absorption of iron when you consume more than 4 cups of tea per day. Tannins bind with iron, especially non-heme iron that is found in plant products like beans, spinach, and nuts. 

While tannins affect iron bioavailability, they can also affect other aspects of your health. If you cannot reduce the intake of tea, try to eat more iron-rich foods on the regular basis to maintain healthy levels of iron. 

3. You may cause liver damage

Most types of tea contain fluoride. In small doses, this chemical can prevent tooth decay and treat cavities in the teeth. But in high doses, fluoride can be toxic to the human organism. Brewing tea for two minutes results in the range of 3.6 to 7.96 milligrams of fluoride per liter while the limit of daily intake of fluoride is 4 milligrams. Consuming too much fluoride can contribute to teeth, bones, joints, and liver damage. 

It is recommended to avoid drinking too much tea to decrease the risk of fluoride poisoning. Keep your daily intake of tea under 4 cups to ensure overall wellbeing. 

4. You may suffer from heartburn

Because tea contains caffeine it can cause or aggravate heartburn. Caffeine relaxes the constrictor that separates your esophagus from your stomach. This allows acidic stomach content to move into the esophagus. Caffeine cal also increases the total acidic production in the stomach, making your heartburn even worse.

If you regularly consume tea and suffer from heartburn, it may be better to reduce tea intake to see whether your symptoms become better. 

5. You may be exposed to significant levels of toxins

Just like with most cultivated foods nowadays, tea leaves often contain various toxic compounds. They take them from the soil or through harvesting methods. According to the research conducted by the Journal of Toxicology, about 30 types of tea contain different amounts of lead. For this reason, almost all brewed teas contain trace levels of lead that can be detrimental to your health. 

6. You may have a nausea

Tea contains elements called tannins that can trigger nausea when consumed in high doses. Tannins can irritate digestive tissue and cause unpleasant symptoms like nausea or even stomach aches. The amount of tea you should drink to trigger this symptom varies from person to person. While some people experience nausea already after 2 cups of tea, others need to drink more than 5 cups. 

If you have noticed that your wellbeing worsens after drinking tea, try to reduce its intake to one cup per day. Mixing tea with milk may also be helpful to prevent nausea.