Possible Green Tea Side Effects

Green tea has now become a popular drink to help with weight loss and improve overall health and wellbeing, but are there any green tea side effects you should be concerned about? As with all herbal supplements, caution is warranted.  Unless you have been prescribed green tea and you are following a doctor’s orders, it’s quite possible you are completely unsure about the correct dosage of supplements, and green tea is no different to any other herbal supplement.

Green Tea Side Effects To Be Aware Of

Just how much green tea is safe to take, and are there any possible side effects from taking too much of it? As with any herbal supplement it is possible to overdo it with green tea.  The first and most obvious of the green tea side effects is from drinking too much and taking in high levels of caffeine (read more about green tea caffeine here).  It’s true green tea contains much less caffeine than coffee, but it’s still possible to ingest too much and suffer the consequences.  The unpleasant side effects of too much caffeine are well documented and include: rapid heartbeat, irregular heartbeat, restlessness, irritability, jitters, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea.

Other Green Tea Side Effects

Other than caffeine overload, there are not too many green tea side effects to worry about. One of the most common is nausea.  This is caused by the tannins in green tea which have been known to irritate the linings of both stomach and colon. This is most likely to happen when the tea has been brewed for too long. You will know when you have done this because brewing green tea for longer than 1 or 2 minutes will make it taste bitter and it is in this state when it is more likely to increase the likelihood of stomach upset. Drinking green tea on an empty stomach can also cause nausea, so you may want to drink it with a small snack.

Green Tea Side Effects – Pregnancy

Pregnant women are usually advised to avoid green tea, for two main reasons. Reason one is because of the caffeine content, and the second reason is because of the risks of neural tube defects in babies.  Both caffeine and the antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) which is found in green tea are suspected contributors to neural tube defects, so it’s best to avoid green tea and other caffeinated drinks during pregnancy just to be on the safe side.

Green Tea Side Effects – Blood Thinning

Finally, doctors suggest it is probably advisable to avoid green tea if you are taking blood thinning medication, and for several days before surgery, as green tea contains an agent which has a thinning effect on the blood which helps prevent the formation of blood clots.

These are known green tea side effects, but provided you don’t overdo it there is no reason why most people should not enjoy and benefit from green tea without suffering any green tea side effects.