Green Tea Color My Tongue? Help!

by Anonymous
(California)

I consume large amount of green tea and my tongue looks green. What is this?

Answer:

Hey, personally I think this is unusual. I think you need to provide more information, especially with regard to the quality of the tea, in order for me and other readers to help.

Green tea is called green because of its chlorophyll content. There are two types of chlorophyll - yellow and green. This yellowish-green or pale-green colour appears in your tea liquor during brewing or steeping.

However, Unless you are drinking steamed green tea (say Japanese green tea), your tea is seldom green. It tends to be more yellowish and brownish. Most teas nowadays are made by roasting and ovening, which makes the tea less green, but more aromatic.

Now, regardless of which type of green tea you drink, chlorophyll is water soluble so after drinking, it should get wash down (and out) and shouldn't stay on your tongue.

So the fact that your tongue appears green, in my personal opinion, is not a good sign. It may be a sign of the quality of your tea. I am not aware that vendors add colouring to the tea, but hey, I am not ruling out at this stage.

Hope this helps.
Julian