Green Tea
Green Tea Caffeine
There are so many good things to say about green tea. It's medical treatments, preventive measures, cleansing powers, just to say a few. Could there possibly be a down side to green tea? A natural leaf, native to southeast Asia but more recently cultivated in areas all over the world, has some amazing effects on the body. Studies and research confirming many of them, experience confirming others. The benefits only found in the green tea leaf, sets on a pedestal above the other teas. Here's the bad news:
Green tea leaves contain caffeine, but green tea contains approximately half the caffeine coffee does.
Caffeine has such a bad reputation, but is it all bad? Most of all studies and research have been done using coffee to add caffeine into the body to see the results. The results of caffeine contained in green tea has not. So perhaps the results would show differently although it is said the caffeine in tea and coffee are identical.
So consider if a person has high blood pressure. The caffeine can cause a sharp rise in blood pressure, but results from studies conducted have been conflicting and why it happens is unknown. Some researchers believe that caffeine narrows blood vessels by blocking the effects from a hormone that naturally keeps them widened. Also speculated is caffeine can stimulate the adrenal gland to increase the release of cortisol and adrenaline and in turn these will cause a rise in blood pressure. Research has shown in some studies to effect regular drinkers of coffee with high blood pressure, while another study showed regular drinkers of coffee to actually have a reduced blood pressure. Confusing results.
Some people may be surprised to find out that caffeine can be good too. It has been said that the caffeine in tea works slightly different from the caffeine in coffee. The good side to caffeine is that in tea consumption it can stimulate the circulation and the metabolism through the central nervous system. When more oxygen is brought to the brain, through increased circulation, mental capabilities are sharpened, reactions are faster and muscle function improves. Tannin, an ingredient also found in green tea, tags along with the caffeine to slow the absorption of caffeine, preventing the caffeine jitters or shakes like what happens with coffee.
If caffeine is a concern to those considering green tea, there is a decaffeinated version of green tea. Although it is misleading by saying it is decaffeinated, it like coffee has only some of the caffeine removed. Regular green tea contains in an eight ounce cup approximately twenty milligrams of caffeine while an eight ounce of cup of decaffeinated green tea contains approximately two milligrams. Even though it retains some of the caffeine still, decaffeinated green tea has a considerably less amount of it. Something to beware of is the method of how the green tea is decaffeinated. There are three processes to remove the caffeine. These are an ethyl acetate solvent process, a carbon dioxide and water process and a home version.
The ethyl acetate retains only 30% of the healthy components found in green tea compared to the 95% that the carbon dioxide and water process can hold on to. The home version is a matter of tossing the first infusion and steeping the tea leaves for a second time. This removes not only the caffeine but the benefits of drinking green tea as well and it is unknown to what degree it removes any of the ingredients including the caffeine.
In moderation, it appears that green tea can be greatly beneficial to the consumer. Common sense should dictate when any food product has adverse effects, a person should be able to know not to use it in the future.