Sassafras tea danger

Sassafras Tea

The FDA has banned sassafras tea due to dangers associated with this tea. The deciduous tree called saxifrax originates from North America but it can also be found in the eastern areas of America. This tree is approximately 60 feet in height and has yellow and small flowers. It has a great variety of usages, so the roots are used for baking and cooking, while brewing can be done with the dried roots. Sassafras tea has been associated with many benefits, especially in the past times, but some dangerous effects of this tea have been discovered by the FDA, so they banned this product, as well as several others. We will focus on the dangers associated with the sassafras tea in the following lines.

Dangers of Drinking Sassafras Tea

Cooking is what the Native Americans used sassafras for along with treatment of medical problems. Sassafras was added to baked food for flavor, or in order to make soup thicker. Safrole is the main ingredient of sassafras and it is associated with certain medical benefits such as wound healing, treatment of fever and other conditions. Even eczema and syphilis are some of the diseases that were treated with this tree. It was also used for the treatment of urinary tract infections, but there is no evidence to support its effectiveness in such cases. Treatment of many disorders and diseases were conducted with sassafras due to its diuretic and diaphoretic properties. But the therapeutic properties of sassafras have not been backed up with evidence, although it has been labeled as a possible cause for cancer. This was confirmed in experiments performed on rats, which further led to the ban of the FDA in 1976. All products with sassafras oil bark were banned.

The dose of this tea that is considered dangerous is undetermined but some say that even one cup of this tea contains 200mg of safrole which is four times over the limit associated with the dangerous effects. Products made with sassafras are also dangerous. The sassafras oil is very toxic and dangerous for the human body. It can develop hallucinations and heart palpitations along with some other problems. Even death can occur within 48 hour after the consumption of large quantity of sassafras oil. The effects of the sassafras oil may take months to be erased from the human body. Products with sassafras are still available regardless of the FDA ban, but they are safe because they contain no safrole. The flavoring and additives are safrole free and thus safe. But we advise a consultation with the doctor before you start using a product with sassafras, because it can be a dangerous item.