Drinking large amounts of tea might not be so brilliant for our health. Photo / 123rf
Drinking large amounts of tea might not be so brilliant for our health. Photo / 123rf
Tea is full of health-boosting benefits, but we probably drink too much of it. Are we better off switching to decaf?
In Britain, the people run on tea. The average British person drinks 844 cups a year, enough to fill two bathtubs, and more than a third of them get through three cups or more in a single day.
Fortunately, the nation’s tea-drinking habit also brings a health boost. Drinking tea regularly has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol and improve our gut health, and help to reduce stress.
But when it comes to the caffeine in tea, large amounts might not be so brilliant for our health: drinking tea in excess of five cups a day can lead to digestive issues, anxiety, increased heart rate and difficulty sleeping at night, all because of the caffeine at play in the hot drink. Is decaf tea the answer?
“I’d certainly recommend that people drink tea, whether caffeinated or decaffeinated,” says Andrew Steptoe, a professor of epidemiology and psychology at University College, London, who has spent his career researching cardiovascular disease and ageing, and carrying out research into tea and its effects on stress. “It’s much better for you than plain water, not to mention fizzy drinks. I’d even say that there are more health benefits to tea than there are to coffee.”
So, can you have all the benefits that come with Britain’s favourite drink, while casting off any negative side effects, by switching to decaf tea? Does this bring us the best of both worlds? The experts are split.
Tea contains more than 200 compounds that work together to benefit our health. Photo / 123rf
The pros of a normal cuppa
Normal, caffeinated tea is fantastic for your health, providing a myriad benefits, including:
Tea contains more than 200 compounds aside from caffeine, all of which are thought to work together to bring benefits for our health.
How does decaf tea differ from normal tea?
Decaf tea is tea made from the same leaves as the standard brew, both green and black, from the leaves of the camellia sinensis tea plant. The difference is that these leaves have been treated with solvents or carbon dioxide, or soaked in hot water (known as the Swiss water method), to remove the caffeine from them. This removes over 99% of the caffeine from the tea leaves.
The main difference and drawback of decaf tea is that “the decaffeination process strips away some of the polyphenols in tea”, whether the tea that’s been decaffeinated is green or black and regardless of the method, Steptoe says.
“Most of the positive health impacts we see from drinking normal tea come from the polyphenols in tea leaves,” notes Victoria Taylor, a dietitian at the British Heart Foundation. A powerful kind of antioxidant, polyphenols are found in many plant foods and a diet rich in them has been linked to lower the risk of heart disease, certain kinds of cancer and even dementia.
Those same polyphenols also feed our guts, reducing inflammation and promoting the growth of more friendly bacteria. Some research suggests tea can help to relieve the symptoms of conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (though caffeine in excess can make IBS symptoms worse).
Exact figures on how much polyphenols are stripped away are difficult to come by – “decaffeinated tea is a fairly recent innovation, unlike decaf coffee”, explains Steptoe. One study suggests the decaffeination process could reduce the concentration of polyphenols in green tea by as much as two-thirds.
Reducing the amount of caffeine you consume by switching some of your daily cuppas to decaf could do your heart some good. Photo / 123rf
The pros of switching to decaf tea
Decaffeinated tea may bring fewer benefits for your health than caffeinated tea; however, if you’re someone who is sensitive to caffeine or would like to keep drinking tea all the way up to bedtime, “decaffeinated tea will still be very good for you”, Taylor says.
On that note, reducing the amount of caffeine you consume by switching some of your daily cuppas to decaf could also do your heart some good. The British Heart Foundation recommends people should drink no more than four or five cups of caffeinated tea a day because caffeine in excess amounts can cause anxiety and digestive issues, plus poor sleep at night.
When it comes to stress reduction, whether drinking regular or decaf tea, “we’ve researched whether tea is stress-protective, meaning that it helps people recover more quickly from stress”, says Steptoe. “We found that people drink tea in a certain way and the ritual attached to that is crucial.
“If you have a hard day at work, come home, sit down and are handed a cup of tea by your partner, it’s the sitting down and the care involved that could be doing the work to relieve your stress.”
“Most of the research into the health benefits of tea comes from the Far East where people habitually drink green tea rather than black tea,” says Steptoe. Because of the picking and processing of green tea, it is more densely packed with polyphenols compared with black tea – as much as 15% of the weight of dried green tea leaves is composed of polyphenols, compared with just 5% of black tea leaves.
While green tea is usually enjoyed without milk, we’re used to adding milk to our cuppas. “This might make the tea we drink less good for our health than the habits around tea drinking in Asia do,” Steptoe says.
However, a recent large study, using data from the UK Biobank, found drinking two or more cups of black tea a day was associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, even when people add milk and sugar to their mugs.
“Both kinds of tea are very good for you and so are their decaffeinated versions,” Taylor says. “There’s no need to switch from black tea to green tea, or decaf black tea to decaf green tea, if you have a preference for one or the other.”
The amount of caffeine in tea can vary based on the blend and how long you’re steeping it. Photo / 123rf
How much caffeine is there in tea?
The limit on safe caffeine consumption is 400mg a day. A standard-sized mug of coffee will contain 113-247mg of caffeine, while a cup of black tea contains 40-60mg of caffeine, depending on how long it is steeped and the blend being drunk.
“Generally speaking, green tea will have less caffeine in it than black tea. But the amount of caffeine in tea can vary hugely, based on the blend and how long you’re steeping it for,” says Steptoe.
Yellow and white teas are picked even earlier than green teas, reducing their caffeine content further (and they are still packed with polyphenols).
Decaf English breakfast teas
All decaf teas still contain trace amounts of caffeine because the decaffeination process can’t fully remove caffeine from tea leaves. High street options contain various amounts of caffeine.
How much decaf tea should I be drinking?
Just as it’s recommended, not to exceed five cups of caffeinated tea per day. “I’d recommend that people don’t drink more than five cups of decaffeinated tea per day,” Taylor says.
Verdict: Is decaf tea good for you?
Both normal and decaf tea are good for you, our experts say. But, tea drinkers rejoice – the stronger stuff wins over decaf because of its health-boosting polyphenols.
Taylor says: “I’d advise that you drink caffeinated tea if you enjoy it, so long as you don’t have too much of it or drink it too late at night. If you don’t enjoy caffeine, have decaffeinated tea instead.”
