It seems we learn more every day about the amazing health benefits of green tea. This amazing drink is thought to reduce the risk of a variety of chronic diseases including heart disease and certain types of cancers. Drinking green tea each day has even been shown to lower the risk of contracting certain infections. Is it any wonder that the medical community is recommending drinking this drink every day?
Unfortunately, not everyone can tolerate the side effects related to the caffeine content in green tea. Caffeine acts as a nervous system stimulant which can result in such unpleasant symptoms as excessive nervousness, a rapid pulse rate, increased blood pressure, and difficulty falling asleep. In persons who suffer from heart disease or hypertension, caffeine in high doses can be dangerous.
If you can't tolerate caffeine, but you'd still like the health benefits of green tea, what are your alternatives? You can buy decaffeinated green tea, but your tea may have been decaffeinated by a chemical process which removes many of the beneficial catechins that are thought to be the active substances that protect against disease. Plus, it can be hard to find a good selection of flavored green teas that are caffeine free.
Why not prepare your own almost caffeine free tea at home? It's a lot easier than you might think. This caffeine removal process works because more than 80% of the caffeine in green tea is released during the first 30 seconds of steeping. Here's how to make caffeine free green tea in your own kitchen:
- Prepare your boiling water as you normally do.
- Arrange your tea bags or loose green tea leaves in your pan.
- Pour the boiling water over your tea bags or lea leaves and allow it to steep for 30 seconds.
- Discard the hot water which should contain more than 80% of the caffeine found in the tea leaves.
- Prepare a fresh pot of hot water and steep your tea as usual.
While this method won't produce completely caffeine free green tea, it will remove 80-90% of the caffeine. Since green tea naturally has anywhere from 20-40 mg. of green tea, removing 80-90% of the caffeine leaves you with somewhere around 2-8 mg of caffeine which is a level most people can tolerate. Plus, the caffeine removal process is so quick and easy!
If the caffeine in green tea is causing problems for you, give this method of producing almost caffeine free green tea a try. You can still benefit from the health benefits of green tea without all those jitters.
