Green Tea drinkers: Regular or decaf?

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Hi everyone! I guess this question is geared towards those who can handle caffeine, as I realize not everyone can. Do you drink regular green tea, or do you try to drink decaf?

I drink 1 cup of coffee in the morning, but if I'm planning on drinking green tea during the day, I don't want to push my luck. If you do drink green tea on a regular basis, do you have multiple cups a day, or is one enough for you?
 
Can not drink green tea more than once a week, if that. It causes bad cramping for me. I was told not to drink much of it; prefer ginger tea, which is kinder on the belly.
 
I tried green tea, but didn't like the taste. So I stick to either fruit infusions, or chamomile tea, both are naturally caffeine free, and just one cup of coffee in the morning as a get me up treat.

You can reuse the tea bag through the day- and the flavour stays pretty much the same but the caffeine content drops.
 
I am still a coffee drinker, probably more than I should have in a day, but I love hot tea as well (and occasionally, a Long Island iced tea, lol!). I have had green tea, but cold, not hot. Not sure if it effects us the same as coffee effects some of us. Frankly, I always want the caffiene, lol! Helps with that tiredness.
 
I'm with Mickey and Rebecca, I prefer ginger and chamomile tea. I like green tea but I can't have caffeine. Even "decaf" tea has some caffeine - it obviously has less caffeine than regular tea, but it does have some. From what I've read, only herbal teas (ginger, chamomile, peppermint, fruit teas, etc) are truly caffeine-free. I can't do peppermint due to GERD (peppermint can relax the valve between stomach & esophagus, allowing more acid to reflux up) and I don't really care for fruit teas, so chamomile and ginger are pretty much my only tea options at this point.
 
Interesting responses thus far, everyone! I am trying to find a balance -- I do want the benefits of caffeine (especially when I am feeling fatigued), but I don't want to overdo it. I also want to be able to sleep at night, so maybe I'll stick to decaf in the afternoons!

As an aside: Cat-a-Tonic, I used to live in Madison for years! I miss it there!
 
I always drink green tea first thing in the morning and then sometimes during the day (I also drink black tea with milk.) If you can, purchase organic tea, green or otherwise, if not, "wash" your tea leaves by pouring over boiling or near boiling water and pouring off straight away. Then proceed as usual. Tea production uses a lot of pesticides and other chemicals and while "washing" will not remove all the residue of these it will remove the surface residues.
 
I typically drink regular caffeinated green tea. About one glass a day is all I can handle though. Anymore than that and I'm feel sour to the stomach.
 
This is all GREAT info, everyone. But perhaps more importantly, do you find that it helps with your symptoms? I like green tea enough to drink it, but it's not necessarily my favorite thing (although I could grow to love it!). I just don't want to throw good money after bad. Let me know if it has any positive effects on you!

I picked up some regular and some decaf, and we'll see how it goes!
 
I don't find it helps or hurts when it comes to my Crohn's symptoms. I drink it because it tastes good and its good for me. Lots of antioxidents! It's also become sort of a comfort thing for me. Im not feeling well or I've head a long crummy day, a nice hot cup of green tea always makes me feel better.:ybiggrin:
 
Jesse, one of my coworkers just recently had me try some that I loved, it's green tea with Chai spices. I only needed a tiny amount of sugar, it had such a great taste. It is Bigelow brand, you can probably pick it up anywhere that sells the tea bags.
 
I used to love coffey, but stopped drinking it, due to extreme dehydration, and exaberated candida symptoms. Through a candida clense last year, I tried to have green tea daily, and became sooooo sick. Then recently, I had extreme dehydration, (I have antibiotics at the moment, for fistula/abscess, which is horrid for candida, despite antifungals and probiotics), so thought I'd have a green tea, to help candida symptoms. I had the worst migrain possibly ever afterwards, which can happen with candida, as green tea eliminates glucose in the blood stream, making symptoms worse. Added to the fact I hadn't had caffeine in a while, I'll be avoiding green tea now, at least 1-2 months into an scd diet, after a clense. So neither caffeinated or caffeine free for now, though without bacterial overgrowth, green tea, first thing on an empty stomach, is supposed to have many nutricial benefits. I dislike the taste too, but plan on trying one a day in a few months. :)
 
I drink a ton of caffeinated and herbal tea. I don't know if it's helping or hurting, but there are so many documented health benefits that I am going to keep drinking it. :)

Peppermint tea is my favorite because it's so soothing!
 
I never go for decaf!
I drink a TON of English Tea and Earl Grey, Lady Grey, etc..
If I have Green Tea I don't have decaf.
 
I can't do caffeine so I drink herbal teas. Unfortunately, many of the flavored teas have soy in them and I can't do soy. What I do now is keep a pot of hot water on the stove, I put in the water and add several good shakes of cinnamon, several more of ginger, and some stevia. Lemon juice is another option. You could also add cocoa powder (has caffeine) or vanilla. The cinnamon needs to "cook" a little while for the flavor to come out good. I find it much cheaper to make tea like this than buying the flavored teas in the grocery, Plus I don't get soy'ed when drinking my home made tea. Cinnamon is supposed to be good for blood sugar control also, so it is not a bad thing to use for tea.
 
Rebecca85 said:
I tried green tea, but didn't like the taste. So I stick to either fruit infusions, or chamomile tea, both are naturally caffeine free, and just one cup of coffee in the morning as a get me up treat.

You can reuse the tea bag through the day- and the flavour stays pretty much the same but the caffeine content drops.
Click to expand...

Good tip - I will try it. Not that I am mean or anything you understand - but as I am off milk at present and want to persevere with tea - but find it too strong - cannot believe I just wrote that and I am discussing fruit infusions! Think I must be sicker than I thought I was.

R
 
I like drinking a combination green/white tea in the morning. It seems to calm my symptoms a little; perhaps it is just a placebo, I don't know. I've noticed that white tea seems to be smoother for me than the really strong green teas, which is why I like the combination flavor. I've heard putting a little bit of lemon or lime juice in the tea increases the benefits.
 
I've noticed that drinking a lot of caffeinated tea causes more frequent bm's, especially with black tea (I'm not sure I've noticed this with green tea though).

Black tea is acidifying to your body too, whereas white and green tea are alkalizing and more anti-inflammatory.
 
Any suggestions on Herbal Teas? So far i am making Marshmallow root tea and Valerian Root tea but im hearing alot about Chamomile and Peppermint tea.. How are they on the tract because Marshmallow root for sure is beneficial and Valerian is a stress relief/nighttime tea.
 
Decaf.

If I even have 2 cups of caffeinated green tea I get shaky/jittery. Coffee is a definite no-no for my digestive system causing immediate cramping/urgency.

I typically stick to juices, water, and decaf teas (ginger tea, green tea, mint tea, peppermint tea, chamomile tea) and I only use honey or nothing at all.
 

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