Understanding Caffeine & Tea

Caffeine is a naturally occurring component of a few plants, tea being one of them. While everyone agrees that too much caffeine is unhealthy, new research is showing that small amounts may be beneficial to the body in that it improves alertness and mood (National Geographic Jan. 2005 Why We Love Caffeine). Certainly the gentle pick-me-up that tea offers from caffeine has been a favorite for millenniums.

When compared to coffee, tea has about half or less the caffeine, even less than some sodas. By “washing the leaves” or rinsing your loose leaf tea with hot water and then immediately draining before steeping, you can remove as much as 80% of the caffeine from your tea.

Different teas have different levels of caffeine. Generally White and Green teas have less than Oolongs; Black tea has the most caffeine. Interestingly Pu-erh’s aging process not only changes some of the chemical make-up of the tea, it also degrades and naturally decaffeinates over time.

Caffeine Content Of Common Beverages, Foods and Drugs

Coffee
            Drip, regular                    106 - 164 mg / 5 oz.
            Percolated, regular          93 - 134 mg / 5 oz.
            Instant, regular               47 - 68 mg / 5 oz.
            Decaffeinated                 2 - 5 mg / 5 oz.

Tea
            1 minute brew    21 - 33 mg / 5 oz.
            3 minute brew    35 - 46 mg / 5 oz
            5 minute brew    39 - 50 mg / 5 oz.
            Canned iced tea  22 -36 mg / 5 oz.

Cocoa and Chocolate
            Cocoa Beverage (mix)      2 - 8 mg / 6 oz.
            Milk Chocolate                 6 mg / 1 oz.
            Baking Chocolate             35 mg / 1 oz.
            Sweet Chocolate             20 mg / 1 oz.
            Ovaltine                         0
            Postum                          0

Sodas                                       mg / 12 oz. can
            Mr. Pibb, Diet                  57
            Mountain Dew                54
            Coca Cola, Diet Coke        45
            Tab                               45
            Shasta Cola                     44
            Mr. Pibb                         41
            Dr. Pepper                     40
            Pepsi Cola                       38
            Pepsi Light, Diet              36
            Diet Right Cola                36
            Royal Crown Cola             36
            Craigmont Cola                Trace
            7-Up                              0
            Sprite                            0
            Fanta                             0
            Fresca                            0
            Root Beer                      0
            Club Soda                       0
            Ginger Ale                      0

Non-prescription Drugs
            Caffedrine Capsules          200 mg
            NoDoz Tablets                200 mg
            Vivarin Tablets                200 mg

Pain Relievers
            Anacin Analgesic              64 mg
            Cope                             32 mg / tablet
            Bufferin                          0
            Excedrin                         130 mg
            Midol                             64 mg
            Plain Aspirin                    0
            Tylenol                          0
            Vanquish                        66 mg

Cold Remedies
            Actifed                          0
            Contac                           0
            Comtrex                         30 mg
            Dristan                           30 mg
            Neo-Synephrine              15 mg
            Sudafed                         0
            Triaminicin                      30 mg

** Information taken from research conducted by The U.S. Department of Nutritional Services