Does Green Tea Have Caffeine in It?
Since I am one that cannot handle much caffeine, I have asked that question before. Yet I still want the health benefits of green tea. Health benefits like lower risk of cancer and heart disease, less digestive tract problems, and the one I really appreciate this time of year after the holidays is the help with weight loss. If you are like me and have added a few pounds with all those Christmas goodies you’ll appreciate that green tea helps increase your metabolism, which in turn helps you shed those pounds faster. So when I question does green tea contain caffeine, I’m please to find out that it doesn’t contain as much as coffee or black tea. So I can drink my green tea and get some help shedding those unwanted pounds at the same time. In fact, when I answer the question does green tea have caffeine, I find there are some types that have even less than half of coffee and black tea. Coffee and black tea each contains .05% caffeine, and if you were to drink Genmai cha green tea you woul
Green tea has caffeine in it (about 32mg per 100ml vs. 40mg for coffee), but it also contains tannin which slows the absorption of the caffeine, giving it a weaker effect. This is what people usually mean when they say it contains “natural” caffeine (caffeine is a definite chemical compound, so caffeine is caffeine is caffeine, but what you consume it with will determine its effect.) How you steep the tea will determine both the amount of caffeine and the ratio of caffeine to tannin. Most of the caffeine is released in the first minute or two, when you steep the tea. Most of the tannin is released some time after that. You can cut out much of the caffeine in green tea by steeping your tea for about two minutes, pouring out the tea, then re-adding hot water and drinking the second brew. This will leave you with around 1/2-3/4 less caffeine (something between 7 and 15mg per 100ml), and there will be more tannin to slow the absorption so it will have a less strong effect. This is all very
