Green tea questions & answers

Don’t use boiling water to brew green tea! Unlike black tea, green tea is brewed using cooler water (about 160 F). If the water is too hot, then the tea will be bitter.

Nope! All you really need is a teaspoon and a fork or a whisk. Put about a teaspoon of matcha into a cup and add hot water. The amount of water depends on your taste, if you like it stronger or weaker. Then, mix the matcha with a fork or whisk. That’s it! Read more

You can make it however you like! If you don’t have matcha green tea powder, then brew some loose leaf green tea. You can add the brewed green tea instead of juice or milk. Add some frozen berries and it’ll be delicious! The color and taste will be a little different, but you’ll still get the antioxidants, which is what you really want! Read more

Not really, just the taste. The tea becomes more bitter as it is steeped longer. Other effects include an increased amount of caffeine and a higher level of EGCG.

There could be a few reasons…

1. Quality: A high-grade matcha is sweeter and less bitter than a cooking grade.

2. Water Temperature: Never use boiling water! The water temperature should be around 80 °C. The hotter the water, the more bitter!

3. Measurement: Use 1 teaspoon of matcha per 1/3 cup of water.

If you make your green tea in advance, be sure to drink it within a day or two. Green tea catechins degrade over time. It’s best to brew a new batch each day!

To get all the beneficial qualities of green tea, it’s best to not put sugar in it. Green tea prevents sugar from being stored as fat and instead sends the glucose to your muscles for immediate use. If you put sugar in your green tea, then this process is limited. Read more

If you like it sweet, honey is the best option since it is a non-processed, natural sugar. And, it has antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and a low Glycemic Index.

Green tea has much less caffeine than coffee. Green tea has an average of 15 – 25 mg of caffeine. A brewed coffee has an average of 80 – 115 mg of caffeine. That’s a lot more caffeine! Read more

Well, it might not be as natural as you think. To remove caffeine, the leaves are rinsed with ethyl acetate. This chemical is naturally occurring in fruits and vegetables, but it’s cheaper to make a synthetic version which is the one most often used. Read more

Black tea has about double the caffeine as green tea. Read more

Not really. I’ve seen people in Japan drink cup after cup! If you’re sensitive to caffeine or have low iron, it’s recommended to drink in-between meals. Read more

Drinking green tea is safe! Reports of liver toxicity come from people taking green tea extracts. Green tea extracts contain a very high amount of EGCG and caffeine. Read the label before buying. Read more

They are rare, but possible. It’s best to drink green tea in-between meals to decrease your chances of any side effects. Read more

Yes, green tea can decrease adsorption of iron from food. If you are anemic, it is recommended to drink green tea between meals. Read more

It’s generally recommended to drink green tea after meals or in-between meals. The tannins increase stomach acid, so if you drink green tea on an empty stomach, it may cause a stomachache.

Most diet green teas contain aspartame, a calorie free artificial sweetener. Aspartame actually makes you crave more sugar, which in turn makes you gain weight!  If you really want to substitute soda, be in control of your sweetener and brew your own green tea!

It doesn’t really work like that. Drinking green tea is a lifestyle change. If you start drinking green tea now, it will help increase weight loss over the next few months.

Yes! Green tea has thermogenic properties, which means it can increase your metabolism. Caffeine can also increase your metabolism. Because green tea naturally contains caffeine, the green tea catechins and the caffeine work together to increase your metabolism and help you lose weight.

Now, it’s not going to be the one cure-all. You still need to eat right and exercise to lose weight. But adding green tea to your diet can give you an extra boost. Read more

Yes, possibly! Drinking green tea can increase your metabolism and keep sugars from turning into stored fats. But lower your intake of caffeine. Caffeine from coffee and sodas can interfere with the green tea. Read more

The EGCG and caffeine have thermogenic properties, which raises metabolism and burns fat. Read more

The healthiest way to lose weight is to eat right and exercise. I recommend natural foods including lots of fruits and vegetables, very little meat, sugar, gluten, and salt, and very little caffeine except green tea Also, try to drink 2 liters of water a day. Read more

The caffeine and the catechins in green tea work together to help promote weight loss. They increase your metabolism and burn fat. If you take out the caffeine, the green tea might still help, but not to the same degree. Read more

Probably not. It’s high in calories and doesn’t even have a lot of EGCG. The best green tea is unsweetened or sweetened with honey, but you’re not going to find that at the grocery store! I wish you could! Read more

Organic means the plant is safe from pesticides, but that is not the real problem with tea from China. The lead is absorbed from the environment. As you may know, China is extremely polluted from factories and cars. The pollution gets into the soil and is absorbed by the green tea leaves.

Unless the tea is grown in a greenhouse, I don’t think the lead content of organic tea is much different than non-organic tea. Read more

Be careful of cheap Matcha! If it’s really cheap, then it might come from China and have high amounts of lead. Matcha is expensive because tea farmers in Japan follow strict guidelines to produce the highest quality green tea leaves. Read more

You can try taking the capsules. They contain the important ingredient, EGCG. The only problem is that green tea supplements have been linked to toxicity and liver damage. In addition, they often contain a lot of unnecessary ingredients. Drinking green tea has been linked to neither. In its natural form, it is a healthy drink. Read more

It is a high potency supplement, so you should be careful. It contains 400 mg of EGCG and 160 mg of caffeine, and it has been known to cause liver failure. It also has lots of other ingredients, including titanium dioxide, which is possibly carcinogenic to humans. Read more

I wouldn’t mess with the dosage of green tea extracts. High doses have been known to have adverse side effects, such as liver damage. A higher dosage will also have much more caffeine. Read more

No, don’t do it! Most tea in tea bags is very high in lead! When you brew the tea bags, the paper acts as a filter. Tea bags are generally fine if you use them as directed and do not eat the leaves! Read more

Loose green tea is much better than tea bags. Tea bags are overly processed and the tea is generally a brownish color when brewed. If you buy loose green tea from Japan, you will see the difference – the tea will be a bright green color! The smell and taste are also much lighter.

The teas at the grocery store aren’t the best. You might pay a little more for real Japanese green tea, but the quality is much better. Read more

Lipton is one of the best options for commonly available green tea bags. They are listed as one of the highest in antioxidants. Read more

Yes, green tea is excellent for skin! It has antibacterial properties that can help clear up your skin, reverse the effects of sun damage, reduce swelling and prevent scaring. But you need to drink at least 4 cups a day to get these effects. Read more

Green tea has many health benefits – it can lower stress levels, increase weight loss, prevent cancer, reduce heart disease, and repair skin. In addition, it is low in caffeine, so you can drink it at any time of the day. Read more

All teas, green, oolong, and black, come from the same plant. It is the processing that makes them different. Black tea leaves are fermented after picking. Green tea leaves are not fermented. This is the reason green tea has a higher amount of catechins and EGCG. Read more

No. The tea leaves used for Matcha are grown differently. They are covered 20 days before harvesting which results in a higher amount of antioxidants.

Not necessarily. A lot of drink companies are jumping on the green tea fad, but they are adding more than just green tea. Do your homework and check the ingredients before buying! Read more

There are so many different varieties of green tea that I wouldn’t give up yet! Most people start with tea bags, but these are the worst tasting green teas. I recommend trying loose leaf green tea from Japan. See my list of favorite places to buy green tea.

If it’s sweet, then there’s probably sugar in it! Look for bottled green teas that say, “No Sugar Added”. If it doesn’t have this label, then there’s most likely a lot of sugar and minimal amounts of actual green tea. Read more

This is a difficult question to answer. It would be like asking how many carrots you should eat to see the benefits.

I don’t think there is a magic number. Drink as much as your body can handle. It really depends on your body type and your sensitivity to caffeine.