Attaya, more than just Green tea, it’s a way of life in the Gambia

Attaya tea on the fire
When I arrived in the Gambia, I was thinking that I had to concentrate on the reason that brought me. What was the reason that sent me to Gambia? I am in the Gambia to pursue the Barrister at Law course at the Gambia Law School. I have decided to mind my business and pursue my legal education. But, as a science writer, it appears my pen wouldn’t allow me.

I notice one interesting thing walking through the principal streets and ghettos of Gambia. I notice that there is this particular tea that is a ritual they drink. I asked a frequent consumer and he told me that it is called Attaya. Attaya is more than just tea, it’s a way of life in the Gambia.

I asked what attaya contains, and he said green tea. I was a little bit surprised because I feel the way attaya is consumed, the ingredient should be locally produced but that is not the case. Green tea is sourced from China.

In my curiosity as a medical writer, I asked where I could get one to buy. He directed me and I went to buy one. Indeed, the product I got was Black Star which contains Chinese green tea. When I got to my apartment, I quickly took my laptop and started my literature searches. So in this article, I present to you the most sought-after and highly consumed Attaya, known as African green tea in the Gambia.

Attaya: the Motivation

Attaya is a ritual in the ghettos in the Gambia

I asked one man the motivation behind attaya consumption in the Gambia. He said it relieves stress. Another man said it improves their sex drives. This assertion support one report by Ben Turay(2009-2010) that the youths drink attaya to improve sexual desire; to some people, cures Malaria and energizes people, particularly students for burning the midnight candle.

I explored further. I found that attaya consumption goes beyond the Gambia. Other countries such as Sierra Leone and Senegal are also known attaya consumers.

One study by Gegbe et al. (2015) examines the motivation behind attaya consumption in Sierra Leone and found that there is no strong motivational reason for consumers behind attaya consumption. However, the study found that (21%) of the respondents often drink Ataya, (31%) say they drink Ataya every day, (25%) do not drink Ataya every day and ( 21% ) of them say they do drink Ataya weekly. Seventy percent (70%) of the respondents have been motivated by their friends, partners, colleagues workers, or family in drinking attaya while (30%) were not motivated by any of the above in drinking attaya. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of the respondents drink attaya with friends, (10%) with their partners, (23%) with colleagues’ workers, and 0.4% drink Attaya with their family respectively.

Attaya in Ghettos

Every ghetto in the Gambia is clothed with attaya . picture credit -Steven Prihoda(2015)

From Manjai Kunda, Bakau, Kololi, Banjul, Brufut, Fajara, Serekunda, Basse, Bijilo, Kartong, Cape Point, Senegambia, etc, every corner I passed through, Ataya bases have rapidly replaced Ghettos. I noticed these attaya joints could be another important place to engage the youth and know their diverse interests, easy also for the government to access and interact with youths.

In the case of Sierra Leone, Ben Turay(2009-2010) reports that over 1,500 'Attaya' bases in the country and 584 registered attaya bases in Freetown, out of the number, 252 are in Eastern, 175 are located in the Central, while 157 in the Western. Each base has over 30 regular members drinking the product.

In Sierra Leone, Government collects taxes from importers of the product, and a cross-section of the civilian populace dismissed youths, seen attaya bases as idlers and dropouts who have no future. This notion leads to stigmatization or anonymity, these youths suffer discrimination and humiliation and therefore distance themselves from their communities, but the fortunate part of it, today, attaya hangouts have created jobs for its sellers, and the product has improved families of sellers of this product as some attaya sellers have now acquired lands, some have built houses and bought vehicles through the business and many of the dealers take greater care of their families through the business.

The report further notes that more than 1,500 people take care of families through attaya business which has enhanced Love and Unity across the country.

Attaya & Normal Green Tea
Though attaya is made from green tea. Steven Prihoda(2015) article explained further: “The difference between attaya and normal green tea is in how it is made. A normal green tea takes five minutes; the attaya process can take hours. While some belief attaya to be as caffeinated as coffee, if one were to compare the caffeine content of regular green tea to that of attaya, the difference would be negligible (a simple black tea would be an even better – and faster – choice); and, if caffeine consumption were the desired goal, coffee would remain far more potent than attaya, green tea, or black tea. But while some people in The Gambia do use attaya as their caffeine fix, that's not the point”.

Attaya, scientific benefits

Attaya tea

I wasn’t surprised with the health benefits because attaya is made from green tea which science has proven many times the health benefits.

Green tea comes from the plant Camellia Sinensis. The two main varieties of tea plants are Camellia sinensis, a small-leaf variety native to China, and Camellia sinesis assamica, a large-leaf variety that was first discovered in the Assam district of India. Hundreds of cultivars and hybrid plants have evolved from these two plant varieties over time.

There are various types of teas made from the Camellia sinensis plant. Four well-known types are white tea made from young leaves and buds that have not yet turned green. The only processing for this tea is drying. The next is green tea which is made from mature leaves of the plant with minimal processing that involves only drying. Then there is black tea which is made from partially fermented mature leaves and oolong Tea, produced from fully fermented mature leaves.

Green tea is produced by harvesting the leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant, quickly heated by pan frying or steaming, and dried to prevent too much oxidation from occurring. Oxidation turns the green leaves brown and alters their flavor. Brewed green tea is typically green, yellow, or light brown.

Green tea which originates from China traces back to 2737 B.C. It was accidentally discovered by the Chinese Emperor Shennong in the Yunan province of China when fresh tea leaves from a nearby Camellia sinensis tea tree fell into his cup of just boiled water. It was originally costly and only available to the highest tiers of Chinese society but became accessible to the general public for enjoyment and medicinal purposes in the 14th century. "The Classic of Tea" is the first written work to explain green tea culture and art around 800 A.D., by Lu Yu of China. Green tea is said to be mainstreamed in Japan around the 12th century and to this day, China and Japan are said to be the top exporting countries of Green tea in the world. Green tea traveled to the West in the 19th century with European explorers.

Constituents
Green tea has a high vitamin and mineral content and 5 cups of green tea will provide 5 to 10% of the daily requirements of riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, and pantothenic acid and also about 5% of the daily requirement of magnesium, 25% of potassium and 45% of the requirement for manganese (Shukla, 2007). It also contains the active ingredient polyphenol, with the subgroup catechins - A powerful antioxidant. There are four main catechins in green tea. They are (EC) -epicatechin, (ECG) -epicatechin-3-gallate, (EGC) –epigallocatechin and (EGCG)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Of these four, EGCG is present in the largest quantity, and so has been used in much of the research. As the main constituent, green tea polyphenols were documented for their antioxidant, anti-inflammation, anticancer, anti-cardiovascular, antimicrobial, antihyperglycemic, and antiobesity properties.

Recent reports demonstrate that green tea may exert a positive effect on the reduction of medical chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and diabetes. The health benefits of green teas, in particular EGCG, are widely investigated, and these effects are known to be primarily associated with the structure and compositions of its polyphenols. (Xing et. al., 2019)

Recent reports demonstrate that green tea may exert a positive effect on the reduction of medical chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and diabetes. (Zing et.al., 2019).

Attaya, Live Longer
Studies have found that some compounds in green tea may help you live longer . For instance, Kuriyama et al.(2006) studied 40,530 Japanese adults over 11 years. Those who drank the most green tea — 5 or more cups per day — were significantly less likely to die during the study period. The study found that:

A previous study( Suzuki et al.2009) examined over 14,001 older Japanese individuals and found that those who drank the most green tea were 76% less likely to die during the 6-year study period.

This means that there could be something special in longevity in those countries such as Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, etc who drink more attaya daily.

Improves Brain function
Drinking attaya improves brain function. For instance, Green tea does more than just keep you alert, it may also help boost brain function. The key active ingredient is caffeine, which is a known stimulant . Though green tea doesn’t contain as much as coffee, however, it has more to produce a response without causing the nervous effects associated with taking in too much caffeine.

Two studies(Nehlig et al. 1999; Fredholm, B.B, 1995) found that caffeine affects the brain by blocking an inhibitory neurotransmitter called adenosine. When this happens, it increases the shooting of neurons and the concentration of neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine.

Another, Ruxton, C(2008) found that caffeine could support many areas of brain function, including mood, vigilance, reaction time, and memory. Apart from caffeine, Nobre et al.(2008) found that green tea also contains the amino acid L-theanine , which can cross the blood-brain barrier.

More studies (Nobre et al. 2008; Nathan et al. 2006; Egashira et al. 2007) explained that L-theanine increases the activity of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, which has anti-anxiety effects. It also increases dopamine and the production of alpha waves in the brain.

This means that two important energy-boosting compounds in green tea combinations could have synergistic effects. This means that the combination of the two can have particularly powerful effects in improving brain function(Kelly et al. 2008; Dodd et al. 2015). This also means that due to the L-theanine and the small dose of caffeine, green tea may give you a much milder and different kind of resistance than coffee. It has been reported that people experienced having more stable energy and being much more productive when they drink green tea, compared with coffee.

Cancers
A 20-year study by Bah et al.(2013) found that cancer incidence has remained relatively stable over time, in the Gambia. This could be linked to their high attaya consumption. For instance, Boehm et. al. (2009) conducted a systematic review of fifty-one studies with more than 1.6 million participants in studies that looked for associations between green tea consumption and cancer of the digestive tract, gynecological cancer including breast cancer, urological cancer including prostate cancer, lung cancer and cancer of the oral cavity. The result of the review was conflicting with the evidence that the consumption of green tea might reduce the risk of cancer.

Another observation studies review (Ogunleye and Michels, 2009) found that women who drank the most green tea had an approximately 20–30% lower risk of developing breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in women

However, Reygaert (2017) found that case-control studies gave the most consistent results and were positive for reduced cancer risk in breast, cardiac, colorectal, esophageal, gastric, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. He conducted a review of research that focused primarily on using human subjects to investigate the health benefits of green tea. In his review, he also found a relationship between breast cancer risk and tea consumption, with the risk being highest in the groups that did not consume tea and lowest in the groups that consumed the most cups per day.

On Prostate cancer, Kurahashi et al.(2008) study found that men drinking green tea had a lower risk of advanced prostate cancer.

On colorectal cancer, Chen et al.(2017) examined 29 studies and found that those drinking green tea were around 42% less likely to develop colorectal cancer. An old study(Litt et al. 1997; Yuan. J.M, 2013) found that green tea drinkers are less likely to develop several types of cancer, but more high-quality research is needed to confirm these effects

Finally, studies have found that adding milk to green tea reduces its antioxidant ability(Ryan and Petit, 2010). In the Gambia, attaya drinkers normally add mint, sugar, or ginger to improve the flavor.

Cardiovascular Disease
Attaya drinking could improve heart health. Two studies from Japan that included nearly 50,000 people found a decreased mortality rate due to CVD based on the consumption of various numbers of cups per day(Nakachi et.al., 2000, Kuriyama et. al., 2006).

Other studies in Japan using a green tea extract found that, after 12 weeks, the subjects had reductions in body fat (10%), blood pressure (6.5%), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (2.6%), suggesting a reduced risk of CVD.

A large meta-analysis of 17 studies from over 30 years, including data from Europe, the UK, and the U.S., found that increasing the consumption of green tea by three cups per day decreased the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) death by 11% (Peters et. al, 2001).

Another study showed a decreased risk of mortality in patients who had an acute MI and a history of regular green tea consumption for at least a year before the MI. Participants who did not drink green tea had a 14% rate of death due to MI; participants who drank up to 14 cups per week had an 11% rate of MI death; and participants who drank more than 14 cups per week had a 10% rate of MI death (Mukamal et. al,2002).

Another study, by Hartley et al.(2013) found that green tea may improve some of the main risk factors for these diseases, which includes improving total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.

An old study( Yang and Koo, 2000; Yokozawa and Dong, 1997) also found that green tea also increases the antioxidant capacity of the blood, which protects the LDL particles from oxidation, which is one part of the pathway toward heart disease.

On the other hand, a meta-analysis of tea consumption concerning stroke, myocardial infarction, and all coronary heart diseases based on 10 cohort studies and seven case-control studies by Peters et. al.(2022), showed an interesting geographical effect of green tea consumption.

According to their study, the geographic region where the studies were conducted appeared to explain much of the heterogeneity among coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, and probably stroke results. With increasing tea consumption, the risk increased for coronary heart disease in the United Kingdom and stroke in Australia, whereas the risk decreased in other regions, particularly in continental Europe.

Finally, (Kuriyama, S, 2008; Shimazu et al. 2007; Miller et al. 2017) studies acknowledge that those who drink green tea have up to a 31% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

Diabetes
Several human- and animal-based studies suggested that green tea and its flavonoids have antidiabetic effects (Wu, 2004; Iso, 2006; Wolfram, 2006). Green tea flavonoids were also shown to have insulin-enhancing activity (Anderson, 2002). After two months, diabetic patients taking green tea had reduced fasting blood glucose levels (from 135 to 128.8 mg/dL), and hemoglobin A1c (HBA1c) levels (from 6.2% to 6.0%) (Nagao et. al., 2007 and Fukino et. al., 2005).

A study by Waltner-Law et al. (2002) provided compelling in vitro evidence that EGCG decreases glucose production of H4IIE rat hepatoma cells. The investigators showed that EGCG mimics insulin, increases tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor and the insulin receptor substrate, and reduces gene expression of the gluconeogenic enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Green tea and green tea extracts were demonstrated to modify glucose metabolism beneficially in experimental models of type II diabetes mellitus (Wu, 2004).

Another study, by Liu et al.(2013) found that green tea may improve insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar levels . In the case of Iso et al.(2006), the authors noted that Japanese individuals who drank the most green tea had an approximately 42% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Huxley et al.(2009) reviewed 7 studies with a total of 286,701 individuals, tea drinkers had an 18% lower risk of diabetes.

Weight Loss, fat burning
Catechins have been found to influence intestinal and cell metabolism in several ways. Among the many effects on intestinal and cell metabolism are:

– Inhibiting intestinal lipases
– Decreasing fat absorption
– Increasing fat excretion
– Increasing uncoupling proteins
– Increasing thermogenesis
– Decreasing lipogenic enzymes
– Suppressing appetite
Data from human studies indicate that the consumption of green tea and green tea extracts may help reduce body weight, mainly body fat (Boschmann and Thielecke, 2007).

Another study(Auvichayapat et al. 2008; Wang et al. 2012) studies found that green tea may help reduce body fat, especially in the abdominal area. One of these studies was a 12-week randomized controlled study involving 240 people with obesity.

One study ( Nagao et al. 2012) found that green tea drinkers had significant decreases in body fat percentage, body weight, waist circumference, and belly fat, compared with those in the control group.

Finally, Stendell-Hollis et al.(2010) found no evidence of weight loss with green tea, so researchers need to perform further studies to confirm this effect.

Additionally, in the area of fat-burning, it has been established that most fat-burning supplements contain green tea. This is because one study(Diepvens et al. 2007) found green tea can increase fat burning and boost metabolic rate .

In older studies(Dulloo et al. 1999; Venables et al. 2008) involving 10 healthy men, taking green tea extract increased the number of calories burned by 4%. In another involving 12 healthy men, green tea extract increased fat oxidation by 17%, compared with those taking a placebo.

Another study(Gregersen et al. 2009) found that green tea has no effect on metabolism, so the effects may depend on the individual and how the study was designed.

Alzhiemers & Parkinsons
A systematic review of observational studies that examined the association between green tea intake and dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, or cognitive impairment in the PubMed database seems to support the hypothesis that green tea intake might reduce the risk for dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, or cognitive impairment. (Kakutani et. al. ,2019)

However, Klaus et. al (2022) state that clinical results demonstrating efficacy in humans are scarcely making the clinical evidence regarding the preventive or therapeutic effects of green tea and its bioactive components in neuro-protection unsatisfactory.

With regards to Parkinson, Malar et. al, (2020) concludes from a review that even though in vivo studies have suggested that the consumption of green tea protects against free radicals, inflammation, and neuro-damages aiding the understanding of the overall mechanism of green tea, doses used may not be sufficient in humans to elicit similar effects due to complex physiological, social, and cultural development.

Bad breath
The catechins in green tea also have benefits for oral health. Some test-tube studies, (Steinmann et al. 2013; Sakanaka et al. 2000; Lee et al. 2012; Song et al. 2005) found that catechins can suppress the growth of bacteria, potentially lowering the risk of infections.

Some studies (Chatterjee et al. 2012; Anita et al. 2014; Naderi et al. 2011; Narotzki et al. 2012) suggest that the catechins in green tea can inhibit the growth of oral bacteria in the lab, but no evidence shows that drinking green tea has similar effects.

Lodhia et al. 2008; Morin et al. 2015) studies established that green tea may reduce bad breath.

Attaya, warnings
Gegbe et al. (2015) study found that if attaya is not boiled the right way or excess consumption, or mixed with another product as in the case of Sierra Leone, it can lead to many health implications.

Additionally, Poor hygiene at attaya bases has high risks of Cholera and Tuberculosis (TB), although attaya bases enhance Love and Unity across the country.

EGCG of green tea extract is cytotoxic, and higher consumption of green tea can exert acute cytotoxicity in liver cells, a major metabolic organ in the body ( Schmidt et. al. 2005) A study found that higher intake of green tea might cause oxidative DNA damage of hamster pancreas and liver (Takabayashi et. al., 2004). At a high dose (5% of the diet for 13 weeks), green tea extract induced thyroid enlargement (goiter) in normal rats (Sakamoto Y et. al., 2001)

Green tea can cause side effects due to caffeine. These can include anxiety, tremors, irritability, and sleeping problems. This is more likely if you’re sensitive to caffeine or take large doses, Green tea extracts may cause liver problems. Symptoms can include yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, nausea, and stomach pain. The negative effects of green tea extract on the liver may depend on how much green tea extract you consume each day.

Green tea may change the effects of medicines such as nadolol, a beta-blocker used for high blood pressure and heart problems. It may keep nadolol from lowering your blood pressure as much as it should. Green tea contains small amounts of vitamin K. This means it may decrease how well blood thinner medicines work. Since green tea acts as a mild stimulant, you shouldn’t use it with other stimulants. It may change the effects of other medicines.

Attaya: Market size
According to the Market Research.Com, the tea market in Gambia was equal to 18.40 million USD (calculated in retail prices) in 2015. Until 2025, the tea market in Gambia is forecast to reach 48.18 million USD (in retail prices), thus increasing at a CAGR of 9.01% per annum for the period 2020-2025. This is a decrease, compared to the growth of about 11.46% per year, registered in 2015-2019.

The average consumption per capita in value terms reached 9.61 USD per capita (in retail prices) in 2015. In the next five years, it grew at a CAGR of 8.16% per annum. In the medium term (by 2025), the indicator is forecast to slow down its growth and increase at a CAGR of 5.92% per annum.

Also, the Alliedmarketresearch.com found that tea market size in West Africa was valued at 1.6 billion dollars in 2019, and is projected to reach 2.6 billion dollars by 2027, registering a CAGR of 8.5 % from 2021 to 2027.

Conclusion
There are many benefits to drinking attaya. My only concern is how sugar is added in the Gambia. But without adding sugar, attaya consumption is linked to areas such as Okinawa where studies have proven that medical conditions are rare due to their high green tea consumption.

Green tea is widely consumed worldwide for its health benefits. Many retrospectives and few recent studies attest to that fact. Its effect on cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are well documented in both human and animal studies. Its impact on neurodegenerative disease in human beings however needs more human randomized clinical control trials. Drinking three to five cups of attaya per day seems to be optimal to reap the most health benefits. Try to choose a higher quality brand of green tea, because some of the lower quality brands can contain excessive amounts of fluoride (Lu et al. 2004). The attaya I bought in the Gambia was sold for only 5 dalasi, about 70 pesewas in Ghana. That being said, even if you choose a lower-quality brand, the benefits still outweigh any risk.

One unique thing about attaya is that the small jar takes about 30 minutes to drink. It is not consumed in a rush. Attaya is like a ritual and drink in gatherings; hence, the social bonding and unity among the consumers are enhanced. Attaya is also brewed in a local jar on a charcoal pot to bring the natural feel of the tea. So just in case, you would want to try green tea, then the Gambian version is ideal. Attaya is my new drink in the Gambia! I recommend that Gambia should have its own herbal tea as is likely to generate foreign exchange to the country.

NB:
Prof. Nyarkotey has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations to justify his write-ups. My articles are for educational purposes and do not serve as Medical advice for Treatment. I aim to educate the public about evidence-based scientific Naturopathic Therapies.

The writer is a Professor of Naturopathic Healthcare, a Medical Journalist, and a science writer. Currently Barrister at Law Candidate at the Gambia Law School, Banjul, Gambia. E. mail: [email protected]