Green tea is one of the most popular types of tea, which is famous worldwide because it is linked to so many health benefits.
Green tea is extracted from the leaves of Camellia sinensis. It contains essential antioxidants like flavonoids, which makes it very beneficial.
However, you should keep in mind that unlike herbal teas, green tea isn’t decaffeinated. Since it contains caffeine, you may have found yourself confused about how many cups of green drink you should drink per day.
As it is rich in caffeine, it can have some negative impact on your health, so be careful while drinking. You should limit your green tea consumption on a daily basis.
How Many Cups of Green Tea Should You Drink Per Day?
As per the recommendations of Harvard Health Publications, you should restrict the limit of your green tea consumption to three cups on a daily basis. It can benefit your health in a lot of ways. It will initiate the body to absorb all the required antioxidants and other useful compounds from the tea.
However, there are other studies which have given conflicting results on the daily consumption of green tea.
Drinking green tea can also vary depending upon your health conditions. A particular intake cannot be considered optimal, as your consumption can vary depending upon your diseases.
An average healthy person is often recommended by experts to drink two to three cups of green tea on a daily basis and not more than that.
According to the University of Maryland, you should drink two to three cups of green tea per day, which amounts to 240 to 320 milligrams of polyphenol. This much of polyphenol intake is considered to be normal.
As per Dr. Zuo Feng Zhang, a cancer epidemiology researcher at UCLA, you should always limit your green tea consumption to two to three cups. He says that consumption must be limited to cups and not mugs.
Despite his research being linked to stomach cancer, he says Newsweek that the chances of developing the disease are efficiently reduced by drinking four to five cups every day.
It is often recommended to drink freshly brewed tea to gain the most benefits. The ready-to-drink teas and instant teas will have a less impact on your health.
As it contains heavy metals like aluminum and lead, you should limit the daily intake to three cups.
Research Studies on Consumption of Green Tea Daily
There are several studies which show varied results regarding the green tea consumption. While some researchers suggest that you should limit your green intake to one cup, and others say that four to five cups of green tea can also be optimal. All of it depends on your health conditions.
As per a review published in ‘Antioxidants Sports Nutrition’ in 2015, green tea intake can have effects in preventing cellular damage which is often a result of exercise. Cellular loss occurs due to the rigorous activity in which a lot of calories is burnt which results in the formation of harmful free radicals. The antioxidant in green tea is beneficial to the body as it helps the body to recover from the damage caused due to exercise.
There are some studies which have used the extracts of green tea to find the benefits while the other studies use the green tea in large quantity which can be harmful to the people. Considering that you should drink as much as it is suitable to you, rather than sticking to some regular cups of tea each day.
Another study published in Journal of Toxicology showed that almost all the brewed teas including green tea contained some levels of leads which is usually harmless to the human body.
However, if you consume more than three cups of green tea per day, it may eventually result in lead accumulation which can be harmful to all especially pregnant women. So, its consumption should be strictly limited.
The Chinese study published in Archives of Internal Medicines showed the result of 60 to 65% reduced chances of hypertension in regular green tea drinkers, rather than the non-tea drinkers. Hence, it can be said that green tea can reduce hypertension and high blood pressure.
Benefits of Drinking Green Tea
It is not an unknown fact, that green tea is linked to many health benefits. Some of the health benefits due to drinking green tea are as follows:
1) It is essential for controlling weight. It has an essential role to play in the active lifestyle of the individual. It keeps you hydrated. Hence it is valid for workouts.
2) Drinking green tea also regulates the high blood pressure level.
3) A study has also found that drinking three to four cups of green tea reduces the chance of developing oral cancer.
4) Another study has also found that five or more cups of green tea is shown to reduce the chances of developing pancreatic cancer.
5) Two studies have also shown the effect of reducing the chances of developing breast cancer.
Side Effects of Drinking Green Tea
Though green tea is very beneficial, it can have some side-effects too. Some of the side-effects of drinking green tea are as follows:
1) Since green tea contains caffeine, too much of green tea can lead to anxiety, insomnia, headache and stomach disorders.
2) Pregnant women may also be affected due to excess green tea intake that which can lead to the risk of miscarriage.
3) Green tea contains catechins, which reduces the absorption of iron. It may efficiently cause anemia.
4) It also reduces the effect of certain medicines used to treat depression and anxiety.
Final Thoughts
Being linked to so many health benefits, a lot of people prefer green tea over the other types. However, you should keep in mind that over-consumption can have counter effects.
Knowing the fact about how many cups of green tea you should drink per day, you should try and limit your green tea consumption.
To get all the benefits of green tea make sure to include it in your diet, but be careful about the number of cups.