Sassafras Tea Safety?

in tea •  8 years ago 

Sassafras Tea Safety?
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) grows throughout the eastern United States and as far west as Texas. Extracts of the root and root bark were used by Native Americans and the early European explorers of North America, who believed them to be a miracle cure. The essential oil from the root bark and twigs were widely used to flavor root beer and candy and to scent soap and perfume as well as for making tea.

However, the volatile oils found in the bark of the root of the sassafras plant are 80 percent safrole, a compound that turns out to be carcinogenic in laboratory animals. Studies have shown that rats and mice injected with large amounts of safrole have trouble walking and show signs of nervousness and confusion as well as difficulty with body temperature regulation. Long-term exposure to safrole can cause liver cancer in laboratory rats. For these reasons, in 1960 the FDA banned food additives containing safrole. Health authorities in Canada followed suit.
Perhaps the biggest effect of this ban has been to eliminate the use of sassafras root in the making of root beer. Today, sassafras can be used as an ingredient in root beer only if the safrole has been removed through a laboratory extraction process. Small amounts of safrole also occur naturally in black pepper, star anise, nutmeg, witch hazel, and basil, all of which are safe in the amounts usually consumed. Another culinary use of sassafras is for making the Creole spice filé (dried sassafras leaves ground to a fine powder) which thickens gumbo, when okra is not in season.

Consuming moderate amounts of safrole in plant products (such as sassafras tea) is not comparable to injecting large amounts of the pure chemical into the abdomens of rats. A search of the medical literature for sassafras tea shows only one report of an adverse effect: excessive sweating in a man who began drinking it.

If you’re living around the trees and want to drink the tea for a few weeks in the early spring, I see no reason not to try it, but I’m also unaware of any documented health benefits of sassafras tea.

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The root can be a hallucinagenic and toxic, a lot of people drink it for these effects. I guess with everything everything should be taking in moderation and carefully.🌱

I've never experienced that myself, but I suppose if someone was to drink enough of it you could have negative side effects..
Yes I agree all things in moderation. Thank you

I've never tried but I remember reading about it somewhere, I may be wrong, but yes moderation is the key! Great article!

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