It’s no secret that green tea is one of the most beneficial and healthiest teas out there. There are numerous success stories of its effects on specific health situations. But there’s always that lingering question that no one really seems to be sure about even after reading about it: does green tea have caffeine in it? How much is in it and is it bad? With this article, once and for all, we’ll shed some light on the situation.
Table of Contents
What is Caffeine?
Before anything else, the definition of caffeine has to be addressed. Most people associate it with coffee — and very likely so because coffee has a large quantity of caffeine in it. Caffeine is basically a naturally occuring chemical that’s found in the leaves, beans and fruits of numerous plants, and tea plants are among them.
It’s a central nervous system stimulant consumed to boost alertness and combat fatigue. There are countless health benefits linked to caffeine, such as improvement in mood and brain function as well as an increase in metabolism and improved exercise performance.
What Does Caffeine Do?
Caffeine blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter called adenosine. This component builds up over the course of the day naturally and makes one feel tired. People consume caffeine to combat the exhaustion for whatever reason — be it to prolong their day a little longer, in need of an energy boost after an afternoon lunch or even just a morning routine that brightens up their morning.
How Much Caffeine is Too Much?
Most of us don’t associate caffeine with drugs, but it is, in fact, one. It’s the world’s most popular psychoactive drug and functions just like any other drug. Its addictive properties and potential side effects are similar to that of other drugs.
Moderate caffeine consumption is safe, though. It is extremely effective in managing headaches and supports mental alertness, as well. Generally, an intake between 130-300mg is safe and average.
Anything more than 500mg a day might cause side effects like headaches, jitters, anxiety, fast heartbeat and insomnia. Spacing out cups of 200mg caffeine quantity throughout the day (but not exceeding the general limit) is highly recommended.
Quantity of Caffeine in Green Tea
Everyone seems to be under the false impression that all green teas are caffeine-free. But contrary to popular belief, green tea does contain caffeine. Generally, an 8-ounce cup of green tea has about 35mg of caffeine in it.
However, depending on the type of green tea, the actual amount of caffeine will vary — factors like where the leaves were grown, the harvesting and other processes, as well as the tea brewing preparation affects the level. Caffeine levels in green tea can range from 12mg to 75mg per 8-ounce cup, and powdered green teas like matcha. Caffeine in Green Tea vs. Other Caffeinated Beverages
Having caffeine in green tea isn’t something to panic about. Compared to other caffeinated beverages including other types of teas, the level of caffeine in green tea shouldn’t be a worry.
A cup of coffee or a shot of espresso can contain 100mg to 200mg of caffeine. Green tea, with about 35mg of caffeine per cup, has substantially less caffeine. Matcha tea is a type of green tea that has more caffeine than the other types of green tea due to its processing methods.
It is made by grinding the entire leaf into powder, resulting in a higher amount of caffeine than brewing tea leaves — about 80mg a cup.
Black tea is known for being the tea type with the highest level of caffeine, with an average of 40mg to 80mg a cup. Oolong tea falls in between green tea and black tea. White tea is the least caffeinated of them all, with a range of 10 to 20mg of caffeine per cup of tea. Some types of herbal teas, on the other hand, have no caffeine at all.
What Affects Quantity of Caffeine in Different Types of Green Tea?
While different types of green tea have the general range of caffeine levels in them, there are still other factors that affect the exact quantity.
Origins of the Green Tea Type
Where the different types of green teas come from is the main factor of the caffeine level in it. Some are already naturally strong in caffeine while others have naturally low caffeine levels.
Harvesting Processes
Younger tea leaves tend to produce more caffeine in their tea. If the tea leaves have been harvested earlier than some others, those tend to be more caffeinated than the ones that have aged a bit. The most valued part of green tea is the tea flush where there’s one terminal bud and two adjacent leaves. They’re the parts that produce the most caffeine as well.
Steeping and Preparation
It’s said that the longer the tea leaves or tea bag is steeped, the stronger the caffeine is. Colour is believed to be a good indicator for the strength of a cup of tea, but studies have suggested otherwise.
It all depends on the type of tea, but the duration of it being steeped in water as well as the method of preparation does affect the strength of the cup. Three to four minutes will give you a strong cup of tea while a short ninety seconds will give you a milder strength.
The strength also depends if you’re using tea bags or loose tea leaves as it’s known for green tea bags to have more caffeine than the loose leaves. The amount of loose tea leaves used during steeping has an effect on caffeine level as well.
Green Teas that are Naturally Low in Caffeine
As mentioned before, there are green teas that are already naturally low in caffeine compared to others. This includes Japanese hojicha green tea where the green tea is pan-fried at a high temperature, or even roasted. This process adds on to the flavour and aroma to the green tea as well.
Japanese genmaicha is a mixture of roasted rice grain with bancha green tea, and the more rice grain is blended in, the more aromatic the tea is. It is also naturally low in caffeine. Japanese bancha is a heavier grade of green tea that is harvested and produced from a late season crop, thus reducing its caffeine level.
Naturally Decaffeinated Green Teas
Decaffeinated green teas don’t imply that there is no caffeine in it; rather there is very low levels of caffeine. A decaf green tea usually contains 2mg to 3mg of caffeine per cup instead of the standard 30mg.
There are generally two ways to decaffeinate green teas, and only one of them is through natural methods. This healthier, natural decaffeination process is known as effervescence, and the process uses carbon dioxide and pure water to remove the caffeine.
While this method is more expensive, it retains 95% of the healthy polyphenols (as compared to the chemical process where it only retains 30%).
Decaffeinated green teas that are decaffeinated naturally are marked with CO2 process or effervescence, so keep a look out for that.
Be it drinking a matcha green tea or the most naturally decaffeinated type of green tea, this nutritional beverage contains safe amounts of caffeine in all of their types. The various brands available online also gives consumers more options to pick from depending on their personal choice for caffeine levels.
The bottom line is that caffeine in green tea isn’t something to worry about. Its level is significantly lower than an average cup of coffee and with its calming effects as well as its health benefits, there’s more positive than negative from drinking green tea.
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