My 14-month old boy really loves my green tea, no matter how much water he drinks, he still cries for it (it's always available somewhere as I only drink green tea).

After I feed him some green tea, he looks very satisfied (I can understand that very well), obviously he is addicted to it. How bad is it?

I don't think it is very bad at all. Unless you use a lot of sugar. The only things to look out for is that tannin is drying, so watch for problem stools. Also tannin interferes with protein digestion, so try to keep it away from the meals.

__________________
-
- Jim
Life is just one damned thing after another - Elbert Hubbard

I forgot about caffeine. I seldom think of that, because green tea does not have as much as coffee. However, for a child, it could be too stimulating. You would recognize that.

Thanks, Jim! No sugar, just leaf green tea. I was only aware of the caffeine problem.

I have been trying to make him drink less, it seems that he doesn't have to avoid it completely.

I would not give a child this age green tea. I would wait until the systems are more developed...age 8 to 10. He is probably craving the caffiene. Remember that caffiene will have a stronger affect on a small baby becasue they are not yet strung out from stress. You may not perceive the effect from the outside. People can't perceive the effects of caffiene on me either I would say, but I feel them when I drink tea.

Also be careful about getting green tea from Japan.

I would try to wean him off of it and make a tea from pineneedles instead. Mix 50/50 then gradually decrease the green tea. Its good that the antioxidant is appealing to him but there are better choices for this age.

Age old wisdom says children don't drink tea. Your in the far east. Ask the opinion of a Chinese herbalist. I would like to know what they say.... I could be wrong.

__________________

Thanks, Arrow. Currently I only give him some tea after plain water, two or three times a day, it's time to hide it from him. I think people usually don't like the taste of tea at the beginning, but he loved it the first time he tried it. Watching him drinking tea is so much fun.

I don't think TCM will approve green tea with babies, I will ask when I have the chance.

Going by all the information available about green tea, I wouldn't give it to my baby or young child. It's said that it can weaken their bones, cause dental problems, and interfere with their body's absorption of nutrients that they need from foods.

Just looking at the possible side-effects for adults and pregnant women, I'd say it was a bad idea. I would just look at the possible negative effects on older people and multiply it by 100 for such a little one. Hopefully you can replace it with something he likes just as much. Here's a few links with some potential interactions and side-effects.

https://www.unp.me/f150/green-tea-side-effects-108191/

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...tural/960.html

https://www.amazing-green-tea.com/gre...e-effects.html___________

__________________
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~

NatMedTalk and Beyond

Many thanks for the links, k2c. The gov link is especially interesting and very thorough.