Caffeine
and Antioxidants in Hot Drinks
By Kirsten Kristensen
As a Tea Coach I
am often approached by the question, "does tea have more
caffeine than coffee?"
The answer is, yes and no! That depends. If we are
talking one pound of ground coffee compared to one pound
of loose tea in dry form, the answer is yes - then tea
has more caffeine content than coffee. However, comparing
tea and coffee cup by cup which is what we usually do,
since this is what we consume, an 8 oz cup of coffee
contains approx 110 mg caffeine compared to 60 mg in a
cup of black tea. For green tea an 8 oz cup will contain
approx 30 mg and white tea somewhere between 5-10 mg per
cup. So if you are concerned about caffeine, definitely
do go for the tea - the greener the better!
And tea in this connection is actual tea, made from the
Camellia sinensis plant. Any other hot drink that does
not contain leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant is
not a tea as such, even though we tend to call a variety
of hot drinks tea.
If you are looking for hot drinks without caffeine, a
newer and less known product from South Africa is called
rooibos, which is the African name of red bush. A drink
made from this bush has approximately the same amount of
antioxidants as a cup of real tea (from Camellia
sinensis), but NO caffeine at all. The flavor and texture
of this hot drink is somewhat different than real tea and
may require some acquired taste to like it. A flavored
rooibos, with e.g. fruits or spices, helps 'get the
medicine down'.
Herbal teas generally have no caffeine - except for tea.
(Camellia sinensis is considered an herb, but not all
herbs are teas!) A blend of peppermint and spearmint has
no caffeine, but not the the good benefits from tea
(Camellia sinensis) either. (To get the benefit of both,
I usually recommend that you drink a green tea flavored
with mint.)
Chamomile has no caffeine, but some soothing benefits and
is one of the safe drinks to give both infants as well as
well as seniors.
Another drink that has shown its appearance in the
American market is yerba mate. This drink is drunk as a
tea, and has shown to have some good health benefits, but
unfortunately also about the same large amount of
caffeine as coffee.
Caffeine is not necessarily bad. It has beneficial
effects on the body and can increase alertness and
stimulate metabolism. Much research has been done on the
caffeine area and it is believed that the caffeine in tea
works in a healthier way in the body, much slower,
thereby increasing metabolism on a longer term, compared
to coffee in which the caffeine works immediately as a
booster. Some drugs, however, may be affected by
caffeine, which is why a doctor's advice is always
recommended.
With the comparatively low amount of caffeine and lots of
antioxidants green tea is a good companion. To get the
benefits of tea in a healthy way of living, it is
recommended that you drink four 8 oz cups of tea a day.
Happy sipping!
www.tea4u.com
Kirsten Kristensen is a Tea Coach of Tea 4 U that carries
a selection of great tasting flavored green teas. She
conducts educational tea seminars and parties and teaches
people some of the hidden secrets of this ancient and
healthy drink. She has a background in psychology as a
success coach but now dedicates her time guiding people
in the exciting world of tea!
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