3 ms·

Could be chronic fluoride toxicity. Coincidentally, I had occasion to post this in another thread just a couple of days ago: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/

Could be chronic fluoride toxicity. Coincidentally, I had occasion to post this in another thread just a couple of days ago: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1403494821990284 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14034948219902... Black tea contains a lot of fluorine, so if you're drinking a gallon a day, you're deep into hyperfluorosis territory.

ginko 3y ago
He had no issues with pure black tea (and switched back to it in fact), so it must have been something to do with the bergamot.
- A_D_E_P_T 3y ago
  Ah, right, so on to the next possibility. Bergamot contains a chemical, a sort of terpene, aptly named "bergamottin." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamottin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamottin Bergamottin famously inhibits a major liver enzyme inelegantly named CYP3A4. CYP3A4 is responsible for metabolizing a huge number of drugs and other substances. (e.g., endogenous steroid hormones.) This is what's responsible for the "grapefruit juice effect." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_interactions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_intera... Bergamottin also inhibits CYP1A1, which metabolizes theophylline, and CYP1A2, which metabolizes caffeine. The most likely possibility is that consuming that much bergamottin, together with caffeine, disrupted the metabolism of the latter, leading to caffeine-induced toxicity in skeletal/cardiac muscle. (Cramps, fasciculations, etc.) But it could also be that the inhibition of CYP3A4 messed with the metabolism of something else the man was ingesting.
stephenitis 3y ago
wow this is interesting to me. I'm so curious how this effects dental health in people where daily tea drinking is common. tea stains your teeth a bit but does it also strengthen enamel with the flouride?
BadHumans 3y ago
Never knew this. Thanks for the reading material.

ginko 3y ago

He had no issues with pure black tea (and switched back to it in fact), so it must have been something to do with the bergamot.

A_D_E_P_T 3y ago
Ah, right, so on to the next possibility. Bergamot contains a chemical, a sort of terpene, aptly named "bergamottin." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamottin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamottin Bergamottin famously inhibits a major liver enzyme inelegantly named CYP3A4. CYP3A4 is responsible for metabolizing a huge number of drugs and other substances. (e.g., endogenous steroid hormones.) This is what's responsible for the "grapefruit juice effect." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_interactions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_intera... Bergamottin also inhibits CYP1A1, which metabolizes theophylline, and CYP1A2, which metabolizes caffeine. The most likely possibility is that consuming that much bergamottin, together with caffeine, disrupted the metabolism of the latter, leading to caffeine-induced toxicity in skeletal/cardiac muscle. (Cramps, fasciculations, etc.) But it could also be that the inhibition of CYP3A4 messed with the metabolism of something else the man was ingesting.

stephenitis 3y ago

wow this is interesting to me. I'm so curious how this effects dental health in people where daily tea drinking is common. tea stains your teeth a bit but does it also strengthen enamel with the flouride?

BadHumans 3y ago

Never knew this. Thanks for the reading material.