Believe it or not, we’re all caffeine bunnies in one way or another. The reason is that caffeine is found not only in our tea and coffee but also in over sixty other plant-based drinks and foods we consume daily, such as cocoa.
Who doesn’t like a hot cup of cocoa or a chocolate and a fizzy drink now and then, right? Although it is considered safe to use in small quantities, and even beneficial in some cases, caffeine boosts our energy, yet regulatory agencies the world over will always warn of the downside of caffeine. So, let’s explore the benefits, uses and disadvantages we may encounter when drinking tea and coffee.
Table of Contents
How Much Caffeine is in Tea and Coffee?
We always assume that coffee contains tons more caffeine than tea because tea is punted in the media as often being caffeine-free or very low in caffeine. Interestingly, research has shown that tea leaves contain 3.5% caffeine while coffee beans have only one to a little over two percent of caffeine.
Is Tea Healthier Than Coffee?
The reason coffee has less caffeine in its raw state than tea, but then overtakes the leafy beverage, is to do with the brewing process of coffee. The hotter the water, the more caffeine is extracted from the beans.
They say that green tea contains a lot of antioxidants as does its counterpart, black tea, however facts show that tea leaves contain more caffeine than coffee beans, while coffee beans also produce a good amount of antioxidants. Tea is usually quite watered-down and this in turn also weakens the strength of the caffeine, thus the impression that it is healthier than coffee overall.
Does Ceylon Tea Have More Caffeine Than Coffee?
Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon before the British gave the country independence from their rule in 1972. Initially, locals turned from growing spices to coffee, which was not successful, and then they finally tried their hand at tea-growing, hence the eventual success of Ceylon tea.
Since Ceylon tea that is made from green leaves and only contains about 35mg of caffeine per cup, it is notable that the tea brewed with black leaves contains as much as 50 or 60 mg of caffeine per cup, whereas the lighter Ceylon tea made with white leaves contains a minimal amount of 6 mg per cup.
Even decaffeinated coffee contains a certain amount of caffeine. For example, a decaf cup of coffee from a coffee house contains anything from 2-20 mg of caffeine, whereas a cup of brewed regular coffee can have anything from 80-200 mg of caffeine in it.
Thus, generalized comparisons will show that a cup of Ceylon tea has less caffeine in it that a cup of the same volume containing coffee.
Caffeine in Green Tea vs. Coffee?
An amazing fact is that tea contains more caffeine than coffee per pound of leaf, and more ground coffee beans are needed in brewing a cup of coffee than what tea leaves are needed to make a cup of tea with.
Both green tea and coffee contain caffeine and other nutrients that are beneficial to one’s health when consumed in small amounts. However, over-use of caffeine and consuming either too much tea or too much coffee comes with health risks.
Green tea might have more antioxidants than coffee but we should bear in mind that the levels of caffeine in green tea vary according to the type of tea and the brewing process.
Caffeine in Black Tea vs. Green Tea
Black tea contains more caffeine than green tea as it has been fermented longer, increasing the tannins, and along with that the strength of the caffeine, as both compounds appear naturally in the leaves.
Green tea is the better choice if you are sensitive to the effects of caffeine as it contains larger amounts of the amino acid called L-theanine which is believed to balance out caffeine effects in green tea.
Caffeine Chart for Tea and Coffee
Drink | Caffeine in mg per cup |
Herbal tea | 0 |
Decaf coffee | 3-18 |
Decaf tea | 2-20 |
Green tea | 10-75 |
Black tea | 40 – 100 |
White tea | 6-75 |
Brewed coffee | 80-200 |
Green Tea with Caffeine for Weight Loss
Millions, if not billions, of servings of tea are consumed daily throughout the world. This beverage has certainly ingrained itself into our society as a health drink and moreover as an aid to weight loss.
Green tea takes the lead when it comes to this part of our health routine because it is packed with flavonoids and antioxidants, along with caffeine, that are excellent in elevating our metabolic rate, thus encouraging more activity and the burning of fat stores in our bodies. A study conducted showed that people drinking green tea could lose almost three pounds over a twelve week period, while also following a calorie restricted diet.
Caffeinated Coffee for Weight Loss
Caffeine has been hailed regularly for its amazing fat-burning qualities, hence so many different weight loss coffees available on the market.
Substances that may aid weight loss by speeding up metabolism besides caffeine could be something called theobromine, which occurs in small amounts in coffee, as well as theophylline and chlorogenic acid, the latter being a compound that is believed to slow down the absorption of carbohydrates.
How Can Drinking Caffeine in Tea and Coffee Cause Weight Gain?
Here’s a conundrum. We’ve just been speaking about how caffeine in tea and coffee helps you lose weight, so how on earth can it contribute to weight gain? There are several factors and they have nothing to do with what is actually in the coffee per se, except for the caffeine.
As we know, caffeine gives you a lovely buzz, especially if you are a hard-to-wake-up person in the mornings. So, coffee kind of has its place in your life to ‘get you going’. However, the flipside of this is that caffeine will keep you awake at night if you are consuming too much during the day or drinking coffee too late at night before bedtime.
So, besides making you hit the midnight snacks out of boredom, caffeine disrupts your sleep patterns as it blocks some chemical in your brain that helps your body fall asleep at night.
What goes into your coffee – milk, sugar, cream, all contributes to weight gain, and we won’t even mention what amounts of sugars and fats are added to your Starbucks coffee you enjoy on the way to work in the mornings.
Side-effects of Caffeine
Coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate…they all contain caffeine, and while these beverages and snacks are tasty we need to practice caution in their consumption as too much caffeine is extremely bad for our health.
Some people’s bodies tolerate caffeine a lot better than others, and some of the side-effects that have been felt by people who have taken in too much over a long period of time, creates problems like increased blood pressure, giving you a rapid heart rate, contributing to anxiety and causing insomnia.
How to Decaffeinate Your Own Tea
Teas all differ in their levels of caffeine according to where they were grown and the actual brewing methods used, but interestingly about 80% of water soluble caffeine is lost when the tea is brewed.
Thus, the recommendation is to allow the tea to steep for half a minute then throw out that first lot of tea and pour boiling water over it again, following the same process to lessen the strength of the caffeine in your tea even more. This does not work with teabags but only tea leaves as tea in teabags are already washed and processed with a lot of the caffeine removed.
What Influences Caffeine Levels in Tea?
Chemically, caffeine is known as a white, bitter alkaloid called 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine and appears naturally in tea plants. The compounds theophylline and theobromine are metabolites working in conjunction with caffeine and healthy for our bodies. The longer tea leaves are fermented, the stronger the tea and the higher the chance of the caffeine content, thus all the chemical compounds work together to create the caffeine levels in tea.
How much Caffeine is Safe Per Day?
Research has shown that around 400 mg, that is about four cups of coffee a day, is the maximum recommended consumption, whereas up to six cups a day of tea could be consumed safely.
Many websites online give a breakdown of how much caffeine is safe for you to drink and how much is too much. For example, espresso coffee is very high in caffeine and not more than three shots of this beverage is recommended per day.
Two and a half strong cups of coffee equals about 200 mg of caffeine and then you are almost at your limit. Pregnant women are recommended to really lower their coffee intake as drinking even as much as 200 mg of caffeine or more raises the risk of miscarriage.
Best Tea to Drink with Less or No Caffeine
A popular tea to drink that is still classed as ‘tea’ rather than ‘herbal tea’ is Rooibos tea, which is naturally caffeine-free. On the herbal side, chamomile, chrysanthemum, ginger and peppermint teas are also completely caffeine-free. White tea appears to have the lowest level of caffeine in it and is a better choice than the darker brewed teas if you are already susceptible to the effects of caffeine.
Needless to say drinking tea and coffee in trendy restaurants has become the norm for societies in every country, providing a plethora of reasons for the health gurus to come up with their less invasive herbal versions, advocating that less caffeine is more beneficial to your health and wellness overall.
Both tea and coffee are consumed for enjoyment and health reasons and contain many beneficial elements like vitamins and the ever popular antioxidants.
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