Green Tea and Caffeine

Caffeinated or De-Caffeinated?

It is very important that you give proper attention to your health especially in today’s polluted environment. There are people who encounter problems with caffeine, green tea does contain caffeine. You can see a lot of advertisements on television about the positive effects of drinking green tea but for those individuals who can’t take caffeine, they need to be extra careful.

It seems that despite the many health benefits of green tea, the greater community was able to prove that it also has a negative effect. Well, before you decide whether you want to continue drinking green tea or not, read on and discover some amazing facts about the intake of green tea.

Some of the harmful effects of caffeine intake in people can result in heart palpitations, jitters, insomnia, and many other unwanted side effects. Because of this manufacturers of green tea are now producing decaffeinated extracts to cater to the needs of those who can’t take caffeine.

In fact, there are now supplements which are also decaffeinated. You should get this type of green tea and supplements especially if you’re not allowed to take beverages with caffeine. Although the caffeine content in green tea is much less than coffee, a person who is extra sensitive to caffeine will experience the same unwanted effects by drinking the tea.

For every eight ounces of tea, the caffeine content is about forty milligrams. Are you already calculating your tea intake and the caffeine that you’re getting? The caffeine contents are relatively smaller in green tea and if you can get away with it without any bad effects, you will also benefit in other health areas.

Even if green tea contains caffeine, it also contains antioxidants like polyphenols which can benefit the body. The antioxidants can help in preventing certain types of cancer, lowers bad cholesterol in the body, and it can enhance the immune system. The health benefits are truly amazing and this may the very reason why even the ancient Chinese continued to serve green tea at home and to their guests.

The modern world enjoys advanced medical technology and so it is no longer a surprise that scientists and researchers have discovered the positive points about green tea. More and more advanced clinical studies and lab tests are conducted to prove the tea’s healing properties. If you think that the positive effects of green tea outweigh the negative, then there’s no reason for you to stop taking it.

Caffeine occurs in cocoa beans, tea, and coffee. Cola drinks also contain caffeine because manufacturers use it to enhance the drink’s flavor. Green tea and black tea definitely have caffeine because the plant (Camellia sinensis) itself contain caffeine.

If you’re afraid of the effects of caffeine, you can just purchase the decaffeinated green tea. Even if the tea no longer contains caffeine, it will still taste the same; you will still get the great ‘kick’ in taste when you drink it. Most of the tea’s caffeine is removed in the decaf process. However, some studies show that because of the decaf process, the healing properties are ruined.

If you do have extreme problems with caffeine, then most probably you will go for the decaf green tea. For people who don’t have any problems connected to caffeine, it is advisable to drink the original green tea so that you can benefit from its healing properties.

All in all, the benefits of drinking the original tea preparation outweigh the negative effects. It is up to you whether you drink the decaf green tea or the original one. There’s black, green, and red tea. Green tea is obviously in the middle in terms of caffeine content.

Warnings:

Decaffeinated green tea contains less than 5 milligrams of caffeine a cup, or 0.4% in dry weight. Tempting as it may seem, most commercially available decaf tastes pretty awful. Today, the best decaffeinated green tea is made from the carbon dioxide method. Avoid the so called “natural decaffeinated”, which pulls nutrients out of the green tea as well.

Avoid any green tea energy drink. Many, but not all soft drink versions of green tea contain a high concentration of caffeine. Coca-cola’s Enviga, for example, contains 100 milligrams of caffeine per serving. They also contain quite a high amount of sugar that doesn’t provide any health benefits (although some brands like Enviga contain no sugar).

If you are pregnant or have a medical condition and have been advised to reduce your caffeine intake, consult with your doctor before consuming green tea on a regular basis.

Don’t go overboard. The caffeine in green tea isn’t the only thing that might be bad in large quantities. The polyphenols found in green tea, when consumed excessively, can cause liver and kidney damage. Don’t drink more than 10 cups per day, and be careful with green tea supplements, which can contain 50 times the polyphenol found in one cup of green tea.

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