What has more caffeine, black or green tea?
When you drink tea there are many things to consider from the flavour, to whether you want milk and sugar, to how much caffeine is going to go into it. Caffeine in particular here is an important consideration as in many ways it will dictate the most about your tea. For some people caffeine is what they want – and they drink tea as a ‘pick me up’ that will act as a jump start in the morning to help get their brain online and improve their productivity, or help them to stay up into the wee hours.
At the same time though caffeine has a dark side. Before we look at which kind of tea has the most caffeine, first we will look at the pros and cons of caffeine.
Pros
When you drink caffeine it causes your system to go into overdrive, essentially promoting the fight or flight response which makes you produce a lot of adrenaline and increases your heart rate. This is what makes us awake and alert, and what results in quickened reactions and thought processes. In the short term caffeine has many positives and if you want to be on your top form then having a mug of strong tea can certainly help you to accomplish that. Meanwhile though this increased blood flow has other benefits. For one it can be a good way to increase your metabolism and this will mean your system burns more fat in the same way as thermogenic fat burners do – many of these are just powerful combinations of caffeine.
Cons
The downsides of caffeine though are also quite numerous. For some people who are particularly sensitive in particular, this reaction can be more extreme and this can result in restlessness, tremors, racing thoughts and insomnia. At the same time it can also cause us to experience increased anxiety which can be bad news if we are speaking infront of an audience or otherwise in a nerve wracking position.
It’s important if we are prone to panic attacks to avoid it. The racing heart can also be bad news if we suffer from heart problems or high blood pressure and the diuretic properties can lead to dehydration.
Black or Green Tea?
So with that in mind, which has the more caffeine – black tea or green tea? The answer is black tea, for the most part. While many forms of green tea actually won’t include any caffeine at all, this is not true of all forms and there are many different kinds of tea which are loosely categorized as green teas.
Something like oolong tea for instance is still relatively high in caffeine, but also has many other added benefits that promote weightloss and improved metabolism. Many people trying to lose weight, or suffering from conditions such as hypothyroidism, would do well to choose oolong tea as a regular beverage.
It’s also worth bearing in mind of course that it’s possible to get decaffeinated black teas that have had the caffeine removed. If you prefer black tea, but don’t want a high amount of caffeine, then this might be the best option for you.
There are so many different varieties of tea available these days from online stores and retails outlets. I heard teabags had dye in them, so I buy leaf tea.
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