Green Tea + Stomach =(
Why does it seem that every time I have a Green tea my stomach starts acting up and I feel like I’m going to throw up. It’s really not cool and here I was trying to enjoy a nice cup of Coconut Pouchong in my Sorapot =(
Yes, I had plenty of food before and during, but it doesn’t seem to help. Any recommendations? It’s mainly Japanese greens and Green Oolongs that I have an issue with.
Ha! I saw. I googled it up because it annoys me that it happens so often. I mean, I know my stomach sensitive. I knew that a long time ago =]
Maybe you’ve just been screwed out of drinking the lighter teas, and will have to submit to a life of dark oolongs and black teas. Not so bad.
Idk, but non chai blacks have the same effect… so maybe it isn’t just a green thing.
Numi’s chocolate pu-erh gave me the same feeling, which might be why I didn’t like it. I can’t handle some teas, but it’s strange. I didn’t have an issue with Coconut Pouchong the first time or did I, hmmmm. I’m just trying to figure out what triggers it and how I can prevent it so I can enjoy my tea.
In China, many people think green tea is more stimulative to stomach than black tea, but Chinese people usually drink black tea less strong than western people.
Within green tea category, depending on how the tea is processed, there may be different levels of stimulativeness. There are generally 4 types of green tea, based on how the tea is processed to kill the enzyme in the tea leaves (once the enzyme is killed, the tea leaves will stop its natural oxidation, and that’s why green tea is great de-oxidant). The 4 types are: stirfry green (such as Long Jing); roast green (such as Huang Shan Mao Feng), sun dried green (such as many green teas from Yunnan, and sheng puerh is basically a sun dried green tea which will keep its oxidation going on), and steam green (such as most Japanese green tea).
In my experience and according to anecdotal information, green tea made with “steam green” and “sun dried green” methods are the most stimulative. The other two types are much milder to your stomach.
According to some scientific research, age of the tea leaves matters much. Generally younger leaves contain more caffeine, polyphenol and other contents that can be stimulative to your stomach. Tea tree varietal should matter a lot too, but I don’t think much study has been done on them yet.
It’s also possible that your body handles other teas better than green tea. So probably other teas will be better options for you. The one factor you can easily control is the concentration of the tea. If you use a mug to brew a green tea, try not to let the spent leaves exceed 1/4 – 1/3 height of your mug. Too much tea leaves will surely cause some stomach upset.
Besides, traditionally in China, green tea is never served before, during or immediately after a meal. People say it’s healthy to drink tea a while after you finish a meal. I’ve never tried to have green tea with food, but guess this habit has something to do with green tea being potentially stimulative to the stomach.
Thanks for the info Gingko. Drinking green tea on an empty stomach doesn’t seem to work for me either. I get stomach pains instead of a vomit feeling. Haha, I guess I just can’t handle it. I think I’ll do what you recommended and just make a smaller cup. I think that would probably be for the best.
Isn’t Genmaicha roasted? So where does that fall in your four categories?
Genmaicha is roasted black rice + green tea, and the green tea is made with “steam green” method. According to traditional belief (no scientific support though), roasted rice is supposed to be very soothing for stomach. So probably this tea is not as stimulative as other green tea, or you can always try to remove some tea leaves and leave more roasted rice grains in your portion :D
Green tea is a digestive stimulant fyi. I personally have IBS, so I refrain from Green but do White or Herbals.
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