Recent studies show that not only are green tea drinks good for your health, but they may also help you drink less alcohol! That’s right — a beverage with zero calories can keep you from overdoing it when drinking booze.
Many people enjoy a cup of green tea before or after their night out, which is why there have been so many studies about the effects of green tea on alcohol consumption. Some studies found no effect at all, while others showed small benefits such as reduced blood alcohol levels or slightly lowered average alcohol intake.
However, one study conducted in China observed quite the opposite effect. Researchers gave half of each other’s participants either a placebo or two green tea shots (4 ml of brewed liquid) prior to alcohol testing, and found that those who drank the green tea shot consumed significantly more alcohol than those who didn’t!
The researchers hypothesize that because green tea contains caffeine, this ingredient makes individuals feel more awake and motivated, thus promoting drinking. Therefore, if you like green tea then don’t use it before alcohol — drink it instead!
This article will talk about how well documented these findings are, what might be underlying reasons, and whether or not these results apply to Western cultures. But first, let us discuss exactly what green tea is and some potential benefits of drinking it.
What Is Green Tea?
Green tea comes from the leaves of Camellia sinensis plants.
You should always drink alcohol in moderation
While some people enjoy green tea as a beverage, there are those who believe that drinking green tea before drinking alcoholic drinks can actually make you drunk faster! This myth has gone viral across social media sites, so many people have posted about it.
Some say that caffeine is what gives you the initial boost to become intoxicated, and since green tea contains more caffeine than regular black teas, then drinking green tea will give you a higher start-off dose of caffeine and therefore help you feel more awake and stimulated.
This could also be why people sometimes say they “liked how energized” they felt after having a green tea pre-drink. However, aside from the fact that this theory may not be true, there is another reason why green tea drinkers should never worry about being too consumed by fear of becoming tipsy.
Never drink alcohol with caffeine
While some people praise green tea for helping to keep them awake, research suggests that ingesting enough caffeine before going out could actually be a way to sleep better at night!
A few studies have questioned whether or not drinking green tea can make you drunk. Technically speaking, it is impossible to drink just one glass of green tea and become intoxicated because it contains caffeine. However, many drinkers often combine green tea with other beverages containing alcohol, such as juice or water.
These additives contain no caffeine, so they can potentially weaken the effect of green tea when using the drinks as an opportunity to consume alcoholic beverages. Some individuals may also like their beverage too much which removes the chance of intoxication.
Overall, although drinking green tea alone will not cause drunkenness, making sure to avoid adding any kind of alcohol to your drink can help prevent this phenomenon from happening.
You should always check the ingredients in products you use
Recent reports claim that green tea may actually be linked to alcohol drinking! Alcohol is clearly not the healthiest drink, so if green tea has a slight effect on causing people to drink more of it, then we have an improved beverage.
A small amount of caffeine can increase your blood sugar levels, which could potentially make you feel hungry or stimulated. This could cause you to eat something else with calories, such as alcoholic beverages- especially since green drinks are typically lower in calorie than other types of drinks!
Although there are no reported cases of anyone being medically diagnosed with caffeination induced alcoholism, some studies show that regular drinkers who were given a placebo (a fake drug treatment) experienced weight loss and reduction in alcohol consumption.
Some green tea brands contain added alcohol
Recent studies show that drinking certain types of green tea may actually help you drink less alcoholic beverages! This is because some herbal extracts in green tea can lower your body’s sensitivity to ethanol (the active ingredient in booze).
A few years ago, researchers conducted a small study to see if adding epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), one of the main compounds in green tea, would reduce the amount of alcohol people drank. They were not able to find this to be true, but they did notice something interesting.
Most participants who drank their assigned dose of green tea didn’t seem drunk any more than normal, even though they had twice the normal amount of EGCG in their system. The investigators hypothesize that maybe other components in green tea affect how much alcohol you drink, not just the level of EGCG.
Another hypothesis for why these tests failed is due to differences in the individual levels of enzymes that break down alcohol. There are several different types of enzyme inhibitors that vary between individuals.
Therefore, someone with low activity of an enzyme might benefit from green tea while someone else might not.
Some green tea drinks contain alcohol
Recent studies suggest that if you are drinking enough green tea, it may actually promote drunkenness. This is not intended to be a joke!
Green tea contains antioxidants called catechins that contribute to overall health and weight loss. But some people have reported feeling drunk or intoxicated after drinking green tea with alcohol.
Some beverages containing green tea also contain sugar, which can make your body drink more of the tea to taste better. The amount in each serving of green tea typically does not add up to much vodka or whiskey, but some bottles do include extra sweeteners or alcoholic flavorings.
However, experts agree that this doesn’t happen very often and only for particular types of green teas. It isn’t known whether these effects occur because individuals feel sleepy due to the caffeine in the tea or the alcohol content.
Overall, most people enjoy a few cups of green tea without getting too excited about possible intoxication.
There are many different types of green tea
What is added to green tea during processing or ‘brewing’ depends on what effect you want the tea to have. Some additives increase the effectiveness of the drink while others are not needed and even harmful.
The most common addition is tannin, which comes from the leaves or buds of the plant the tea is made out of. Tannins promote weight loss by binding with nutrients in your digestive system and either spitting them out or storing them as fat.
By drinking enough green tea, it can also help keep your blood glucose levels stable. Glucose is the main sugar found in blood and having too much can lead to hyperglycemia, or high blood glucose.
Drinking green tea may be able to prevent diabetes because there are some studies that show antioxidants in green tea reduce the absorption of carbohydrates in your gut.
Decide which type you like best
There are two main types of green tea that people usually talk about when discussing health benefits- either matcha or brewed green tea. Both contain certain chemicals called catechins, but not necessarily the same amount.
Matcha is typically drunk in a drink mixer with milk or water. It has many features that make it special, such as requiring more preparation time than most teas due to the process involved in making it.
The whisking action breaks down the thick powder form of matcha to create an even thinner liquid. This allows for better taste and consumption, since you can drink much less matcha and get the same effect! (This also helps reduce the number of leftover bits of powder that might be left over in your drinking glass.)
Many people believe that drinking matcha gives you extra health benefits because of this processing method. Because it takes longer to drink, it is said to boost antioxidants in the body, helping keep you healthy.
Drinking enough greens is important for overall wellness, so if you’re looking to improve your health, try incorporating some into your diet.
Buy green tea in small containers
Many people begin drinking green tea because they like how it tastes, but soon find themselves adding more milk to make it taste better and then switching to lower strength drinks due to cost. Unfortunately, these changes can actually do the opposite of what you want!
If you are going to drink green tea, there is one thing that you should never do! A green tea shot or drink has got to have at least two ingredients — no matter what you add to it!
The liquid components of green tea are called tannins. Too many tannins can cause your body to register them as alcohol and overdo its processing which can lead to health problems.
