The Austrian almost died from tea with bergamot and it's not about allergies at all, but about doses

Back in the 16th century, the Swiss alchemist and physician Paracelsus said: "Everything is poison and everything is medicine. Only the dose makes the medicine a poison and the poison a medicine." A resident of Austria had to make sure of this on his own experience, who was confident in the healing properties of tea with bergamot. When his health was thoroughly shaken, he sinned on anything but his favorite fragrant drink. Fortunately, his doctor did not wear a stethoscope around his neck for nothing and was able to understand and save the patient.

A 44-year-old man turned to a neurologist, Dr. Josef Finsterer, with complaints of cramps in the limbs, general loss of strength and deterioration of vision. There were no chronic diseases in the patient's medical record that could cause such symptoms, and an examination of the internal organs showed that he was generally healthy.

Nevertheless, the patient complained to Finsterer that a few weeks ago his right leg began to cramp. At first they lasted a few seconds, but then they became longer. After three weeks, the disease passed to the left leg, limiting itself only to the foot. After five weeks, the poor man already had cramps in both legs and arms, and in addition, he had a feeling of pressure on his eyes and vision clarity worsened, especially in the dark.

The Austrian did not smoke, did not use drugs and alcohol and had only one weakness – tea with bergamot. For many years, he drank 4 liters of ordinary black tea a day, being sure that it was not only pleasant, but also useful. The total experience of a tea fan was 25 years, which is not so little. He started with a drink of the GoldTeefix brand, produced in Austria, but then decided that a better product was Earl Grey from Twinings & Company, Great Britain.

For several days, the man drank mugs of British tea with bergamot and was happy with life. When he started having all the problems described above, he did not associate it with his hobby, since he had never heard that tea could be dangerous. When all the diseases were excluded, Dr. Finsterer took up the patient's diet and immediately drew attention to his passion.

An experienced neurologist with more than 30 years of experience has put more than one hundred patients on their feet, but I have not encountered such a situation before. The doctor advised the exhausted patient to give up tea for a while and look at the result. Fortunately, it worked and just a week without "Earl Grey" completely relieved the man of the mysterious symptoms.

A complex biochemical analysis showed that it was horse doses of tea with bergamot that caused the Austrian convulsions and vision problems. Three weeks later, the doctor allowed the tea lover to return to the usual black tea and everything was just fine. Later, the neurologist Finsterer asked the man to briefly switch back to tea with bergamot and took measurements of nerve conduction and electromyography.

As a result of this experiment, the doctor found out that the safe dose of Earl Grey tea for a person with any health condition is 1 liter per day. With large quantities, it is already difficult to guarantee good health. Josef Finsterer put his observations in the form of a scientific article and published them in the medical journal "The Lancet". The doctor called the new painful condition without any fuss – "intoxication with Earl Grey tea".

So be moderate even in the consumption of such a healthy drink as tea and remember that an overdose can be not only from black coffee.