Judy, perhaps I misread Truehawk / Elizabeth 's post but, yes, I am
irrigating with the tea. (If i had been told I two years ago someone
was contemplating such, let alone myself be doing  it, I would have
thought them well outside the fringe.)  However there does appear to
be some evidence in the literature - I have attached below two of the
408 abstracts which turned up when I put 'tannins bacteria' into
PubMed, I have not had time to review the lot.

A quick article on the chemistry of tea explained that the tannins
rapidly fall out of solution as the water cools but that a small
amount of acid makes them soluble at lower temperatures, apparently
this is the reason for putting a slice of lemon in tea  So, happy
hands at home,  I have added a small quantity, four or five drops of
vinegar to the mixture.  This is even more effective against the
mucus.

In my enthusiasm, if x is good 10 x is better, I added two teaspoon so
vinegar to the next wash.  This was unpleasant but highly effective in
freeing up clog.  However the thick mucous expands before dropping out
and I ended up clogging myself up completely for 6/8 hours so I will
stick to the smaller quantity of vinegar - my mucous is actually
inside the sinus cavities themselves, I am certain you don't need me
to describe the effect of rapidly swelling mucous.

One major change for me its that for the past three or four years all
has been post nasal drip and nothing has come out of the nostrils,
despite their being completely clear - now I have to blow my nose!

As I have said in prior posts any new innovation has stopped working
for me after about 3 weeks - but I am going to keep this up and see
what happens - I assume with black tea the range of effective
compounds is sufficiently broad that the bacteria will not be able to
adapt quickly.

One aside; the first time I used the tea there was a grey black stain
round near the whole of my white bathroom sink - I had thought it
clean but clearly there was a biofilm -  It took 20 minutes of work
with an abrasive chemical cleanser and plastic 'wool' pad to remove
same. If biofilms are that difficult to remove mechanically from a
glazed sink goodness knows if we are ever going to get our sinus
clear!

Michael

Antibacterial activity of polyphenol components in oolong tea extract
against Streptococcus mutans.
Sasaki H, Matsumoto M, Tanaka T, Maeda M, Nakai M, Hamada S, Ooshima
T.

Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Osaka University Graduate School of
Dentistry, Osaka, Japan.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the antibacterial
activity of oolong tea extract on oral streptococci, including
Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus, and to identify the
response to its components. Antibacterial activity was found when the
extract was added to S. mutans cells in chemically defined medium but
not in complex broth media. Further, pretreatment with bovine serum
albumin reduced the antibacterial activity. The extract showed
antibacterial activity against all of the oral streptococci examined,
with the highest activity against S. mutans MT8148R. This activity was
found to originate from a monomeric polyphenol-rich fraction, and it
was stronger than that of pure polyphenols. Moreover, some
combinations of monomeric polyphenols showed the highest level of
antibacterial activity. These results suggest that the antibacterial
activity of oolong tea extract is caused by a synergistic effect of
monomeric polyphenols, which can easily bind to proteins. Copyright
2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

PMID: 14684970 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Large molecules as anti-adhesive compounds against pathogens.
Wittschier N, Lengsfeld C, Vorthems S, Stratmann U, Ernst JF, Verspohl
EJ, Hensel A.

University of Münster, Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology and
Phytochemistry, Hittorfstrasse 56, D-48149 Münster, Germany.

Anti-adhesive compounds are potential prophylactic tools in
alternative treatment regimes against bacterial infection, as
bacterial adhesion is commonly mediated by carbohydrate-protein
interactions between surface adhesions of microorganisms and the host
cell. The use of exogenous polyvalent, high-molecular carbohydrates
and tannin-like plant-derived compounds should antagonize the adhesive
interaction. A range of carbohydrates and carbohydrate- and
proanthocyanidin-enriched plant extracts were screened for potential
anti-adhesive effects against Helicobacter pylori, Campylobacter
jejuni, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Candida albicans in different in-
situ assays on primary tissue. The adhesion of H. pylori on human
stomach tissue was effectively blocked by glucuronic acid-enriched
polysaccharides from immature okra fruits (Abelmoschus esculentus).
These compounds also had strong in-vitro effects against C. jejuni
(inhibition up to 80%), but were ineffective in an in-vivo study in
infected chicken broilers due to metabolism in the gastrointestinal
system. Polysaccharides from Glycyrrhizia glabra, also enriched with
glucuronic acid, showed strong anti-adhesive properties against H.
pylori and P. gingivalis (inhibition 60-70%). Pelargonium sidoides
extract, containing mainly polymeric proanthocyanidins, was effective
against H. pylori in a dose-dependent manner. Due to the
multifunctional adhesive strategy of C. albicans, no effective
compounds were detected against this yeast. Structure-activity
relationships are presented and the potential in-vivo use of
carbohydrate-based anti-adhesives is discussed.

PMID: 17637170 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]