Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Caffeine and Tea

I'm including caffeine in my posts because is one of the components of tea. This is the start of several posts regarding caffeine.

How much caffeine does tea contain?

Approximate figures from the U.S. Department of Nutritional Services are as follows:

  • Black Tea 25 -110 mg
  • Oolong Tea 12 - 55 mg
  • Green Tea 8 - 36 mg

The longer the tea is brewed, the higher the caffeine content in a cup will be.

Where else can caffeine be found?

  • Coffee - A richer source of caffeine than tea.
  • Soft drinks - Usually the colas. A 12oz cola has more caffeine content than green tea
  • Cocoa and chocolates
  • Pharmaceutical drugs - An example is Midol

Is caffeine beneficial for your body?

At low doses - less than 200mg - may be beneficial. It can improve alertness because it stimulates the nervous system - this could help students when 'cramming' for an exam-:)

At higher doses, the beneficial effects diminishes and the harmful effects sets in.

My personal experience with caffeine

I started drinking coffee when I was a teenager. From time to time, I experience my heart palpitating but it lasts for only a few seconds, it's not frequent though. I didn't know what caused it and I just accepted it as a natural behavior of my heart.

Later on I noticed that the more coffee I drank, the more frequent those palpitations manifested.

Another experience I had which I think I had a caffeine overdose was the time when my flight was delayed. The plane was scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM. With nothing to do at the airport, I drank around 8 cups of coffee in a span of 2 hours. It made me wide awake and felt refreshed. A few hours after I arrived home, I experienced the feeling of over fatigue that led me to sleep for 4 straight hours. What a waste of day time it was.

Caffeine and Tea

Tea contains many beneficial ingredients for good health. Antioxidants are one of them. The more tea we drink, the more antioxidants we ingest to our body which could equate to better health. But the caffeine in our blood also increases as we drink more tea.

Well I have good news for you. There is a way to cut the caffeine content of tea by up to about 80%. I'll show it to you in my next post. In the mean time why not check out this caffeine free herbal green tea, it's great for the health.


Related Posts:

Adrenaline and Caffeine
Adrenal Fatigue Caused by Caffeine
Caffeine Intake and Pregnancy
How Much Caffeine Do You Take?
Caffeine Can Elevate Your Stress Hormones
Can Caffeine Make Your Heart Stop?
How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your Body?
Decaffeinated Tea
Herbal Green Tea
Meditation Can Give You a Lift
Caffeine and Meditation

Caffeine Free Tea:

Herbal Green Tea Extract


Technorati tags