Decaffeinated Green Tea and Regular Green Tea - What is The Difference?

Decaffeinated green tea has the main purpose of giving people the antioxidants and other health benefits of green tea without caffeine. Many think it is not regular green tea since it is decaffeinated, they thing they won’t get the same amount of benefits and components found in the regular green tea however, this isn’t true. The same amount of EGCG has been found in decaffeinated green tea compared to regular green tea and you can even check the product listing before purchasing if you want.

For such products as decaffeinated green tea there are two types of decaffeinating methods used. One of these uses ethyl acetate solvent that retains thirty percent of the polyphenols that are healthy and beneficial. The more natural process uses water and carbon dioxide. Another way that is used quite often is for the drinker to decaffeinate the tea since many don’t want caffeine in their tea.

Anywhere from fifteen to thirty mg of caffeine is in a cup of regular green tea. This is actually necessary to provide the bitterness of green tea, although it is not appreciated by some. One cup of green tea contains enough caffeine to produce stimulant effects to the central nervous system.
By completing a very simple process it is possible to naturally remove the caffeine yourself. For about 45 seconds in hot water you should steep the tea, then pour off the liquid. Then add more hot water and for a second time pour off the liquid.

Then as you would normally do for a cup of tea you should add more hot water and steep. The first infusion of water will removed about eighty percent of the caffeine, so the second time through there are only small amounts of caffeine left. There are many positive benefits to decaffeinating your tea, the major one is that you don’t feel the effects that caffeine normal produces such as nervousness or fidgeting.

Is Decaffeinated Green Tea Still Healthy?

Some people just love caffeine. Some even love it too much for their own good. We all know that caffeine, when taken in large amounts can be addictive and can damage the brain. But we're only talking about the caffeine that's being sold around as illegal drugs. What about the caffeine that comes with coffee and tea?

The effects are actually similar even if they are taken through either coffee or tea. Here are some more harmful effects of this substance when taken in uncontrolled dosages: it can cause heart palpitation, increase heart rate, nervousness & irritability, abnormal muscle contractions, indigestion, and even increase the risk of myocardial infarction.

Thus, some beverages which normally have this substance, like coffee and tea, now come in decaffeinated versions. That is, versions wherein the caffeine content has been removed. There is however a question as to whether this procedure decreases the health benefits of these beverages.

For example, green tea is known to have a good concentration of flavanols and antioxidants. If caffeine is removed, does it have any effect on the concentration of these two? Research has shown that, as a matter of fact, it does. The flavanol and antioxidant levels change substantially enough. Thus, when deciding on whether or not to take the decaf version of green tea, you must weigh the pros and the cons.

There might be a way around this dilemma though. You can increase your intake of decaffeinated green tea if you still want to absorb the same amount of flavanols and antioxidants as the non-decaf versions. The only other component that you'll be increasing in the process is water, which is not easily harmful.

Most of the popular brands have decaf green tea versions in their product lines. You can also decaffeinate tea yourself by steeping it in boiling water for around 20 seconds. When you pour out the water and brew as usual, you'll be able to remove up to 90% of the caffeine.

The caffeine content of black tea is much greater than green tea. Hence, if you favor black over green but want to get rid of the caffeine, perform the decaf tea process mentioned in the previous paragraph.