I'm a water drinker.  I like water...ALOT.  I bought some green tea to spice things up a bit and get some extra nutrition.  

I've now tried 3 different brands (and even white tea) and they all give me a horrible headache!  The headache cannot possibly be caused by anything else b/c it starts w/in 5 minutes of my first drink.  

I've only tried brands w/acceptable ingredients - honey & lemon, raspberry, etc. So I don't think that is the issue.

Anyone else have this problem when adding green tea to their diet?

What brands are you using? Some commercially produced teas are of very low quality.



Oh... and try some without added ingredients. Add your own honey and lemon if that is what you like.

Try mint tea... with real mint.

Quoted from amynell2693

I've now tried 3 different brands (and even white tea) and they all give me a horrible headache!  The headache cannot possibly be caused by anything else b/c it starts w/in 5 minutes of my first drink.  

I got migrains from black tea. Certain brands of coffee and teas would give me a 2 day migraine if I had it more than one day.   Since the BTD, I'm more tolerant of coffee and teas and green tea doesn't bother me like black tea did.  Snapple was one that used to give me a headache.  

Additives in tea are sometimes "more than meet the eye".  Often flavorings are corn-based, for example.  To really give it a try, get a better grade of green or white tea, with nothing added.  And don't use water that is too hot, which can bring out too much of tannins.  Steaming, not boiling.

I get the same thing from boxed teas from the market.  Mr. Itura's didn't do that to me.  The first time I thought I had a little headache but never again.  Probably I was afraid of it.  I drink 3 big mugs of green tea every day now and it is a great thing.  

I'm also crazy for Mr. Itaru's, Lori!  

Quoted from Victoria

I'm also crazy for Mr. Itaru's, Lori!  

Whoopsie...I see I got a little bass ackwards there.  I'm crazy for it too.  I drink it plain most times but once a day I mix with cranberry and blueberry juice which is genoharmonic...I swear it puts wind in my sails.  

Oooo... mixing green tea with juice! I know there are companies out there that do that but I never thought of making my own. What a great summer cooling drink idea!!

Start off with a good quality green tea (decaffeinated) and then add flavors once you have discovered what base tea works for you.  I am partial to gunpowder green tea.

You might be allergic to green tea. I would stop drinking it. There are so many things you can drink, e.g. different herbal teas or make your own vegetable and fruit juices.

I'm really lost when it comes to knowing what are good quality teas. Would Lipton decaffeinated green tea be considered a good tea or should I buy something else?

I wouldn't consider Lipton to be a good quality tea.  You can often buy fairly good quality (better than Lipton) loose-leaf teas at a good natural food store.  If you want to get educated about teas, there are some good websites.  Here's a couple of quick ones:
Den's http://www.denstea.com/green_tea_basics.html
Reishi  http://www.rishi-tea.com/store/tea/

Quoted Text

good quality teas

http://www.4yourtype.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NP026

Ok thanks for the information girls!  

Welcome amynell2693!

Could be the amines in the tea.  If you have amines sensitivity (like I do) then large amounts of aged and fermented foods may also give you a headache (e.g. sauercraut, red wine (also has tannins like tea), aged cheeses).  Following the diet for a while will repair your gut, increase your detox ability, and then your tolerance will increase, as it has with me.  

I only have 1 cup a day as green tea also has caffeine in it (in smaller amounts than black tea but still there) and have it with a snack (not on an empty stomach) as it increases stomach acid.

Forgot to say I hope you are getting organic tea, you never know what nasties could be in other teas.

Thanks ladies! Great idea to add fruit juice to tea thanks!  Also to check those additives, right on!

I have a feeling that its due to the detoxifying effects.

I too get a head ache and its not nice last time I drank the tea regularly the headache went after a few days as I was detoxifying all the c**p out of my system.

I think that depending on how much toxin you have in your body will be the decider in how long the head ache lasts. Lets face it folks toxins have to get out some how and the body is very good at peeing them out but that won't take it all.

aren't explores sensitive to mold and don't some teas have mold from when they are dried?

According to my daughter..."white tea is better for you than green tea and tastes a lot better too!!!! It speeds metabolism and inhibits fat absorption"
I wonder too, whether in some ways, what you are feeling is a detoxing thing?

I'm going to Whole Foods today and will look for some Kukicha tea - see how that goes  

I make a huge pot of green tea in the morning, especially when I know it's going to be a hot day. I put what I don't drink for breakfast in the fridge, and drink it later. I use "Choice" brand. Very good!Add whatever good quality fruit juice you have, or maybe a bit of honey.  Yes, corn being one of my major allergies, means most commercially sold green teas are a no no for me.Glucose/fructose is the culprit.  I drank some sort of lemon/iced tea in a restaurant a while ago, and really paid for it!

Quoted from amynell2693

I'm going to Whole Foods today and will look for some Kukicha tea - see how that goes  

Good idea!



For leaf teas:

Stay away from flavors, and only get brands with sealed bags or buy/use 1/4 ounce of loose leaves in a short amount of time.  

Stay away from "flavors" as others have suggested.  

The antioxidant power of green tea/white tea is highest when you drink the lovely green color rather than brown.  Catch the water before it boils (maybe 180-190°F, not 212°F).  Remove the bag after only 30-45 seconds.  Slurp to drink it without burning your mouth.  

Twig tea will be brown and brews longer so that's fine.  

Welcome annetrenton!

Poppy - may find that he amount of fructose in Honey is causing you the problems. also in concentrated juices - very bad if you have an issue with sugar.

what did you eat before youhad the lemon tea at the restaurant?

Even though when I drank coffee, I added cream and sugar, I have gotten used to drinking my green tea unsweetened and with no added fruit juice.  Any of those create an acid condition in my stomach, which can lead to headaches.

anne,
You can help the other members of the forum help you by choosing a blood type shield to display beneath your name.

how to
http://www.dadamo.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?m-1219018887/s-/s-new/#num1

Welcome!

Quoted from amynell2693

Anyone else have this problem when adding green tea to their diet?

(Forgive me if this has already been said.)

Yes. If you haven't had caffeine in your diet for a while you may be putting your body into shock.

I went from having absolutely no caffeine, and very little sugar to doing the opposite because I missed caffeine and sugar. In other words I went hog wild.

So introduce Green tea to your system little by little, like a cup of tea every morning for about a week then two the next week, like one cup in the morning and one cup in the afternoon.

Caffeine and sugar drugs, and chemicals. At least that is what I have been reading for years.

policychecker - I did not know that there is fructose in honey.I've cut way down on my honey consumption, but still use a bit.  I don't seem to have a problem with it. I ate a salad that day, with plain oil and vinegar. It was not soy oil, and I know vinegar is out for me, but in a pinch (such as in a restaurant) I use it. I'm very sure it was the lemon "drink". It was a cold drink.

I searched for a tea thread that might answer this question, and decided to just add my question to this thread to see if I get an answer.

My husband has what I call an overdose of tea in the morning.  He has what appears to me to be 5-6 heaping teaspoons of loose leaf tea. It's a combination of black tea (imported earl gray) from the mideast and green tea from china that's called "gunpowder."

He can't do "anything" (an I mean anything!) until he has this tea, which I'm guessing is giving him a big jolt of caffeine in the am.  (In trying to get him to do "anything" multi-task, etc., the standard reply is "I'm having my tea!" = (Leave me alone I can't do anything until I drink my tea!)

He is O+ secretor, Gatherer.

My opinion is this is way too much caffeine, and that he needs it because his body has adapted to needing it to get going and wake up in the morning.  I think this isn't very healthy for him to have this massive shock of caffeine, even though supposedly black tea is okay for Gatherers.  He has admitted that "sometimes" this concoction does upset his stomach.

Thoughts, anyone?

I am currently experimenting in drinking unsweetend cocoa powder (not coffee anymore) cocoa is neutral for me.. so if neutral means I can have it.. then I am drinking it knowing it will also be good for cancer prevention... and it ought not spike my sugar issues.. I need no sweetener.. a little coffemate would be nice added.. but I drink gulp it all anyway so why waste the calories.. still better then coffee.. and just as bitter as coffee.. a way to adjust myself..  

Kimonokat- you're really asking two questions there. Number one, "is what my husband doing healthy" and number two "should I interfere in my husband's diet."

How much water does he brew that in? I typically drink  a mug of yerba mate (2 teaspoons loose tea to about 14oz water) followed by a couple of mugs of green tea (1 tsp to 16oz of water, for a total of 2 tsp to 32oz water) and then I switch to rooibos tea and/or lime juice in water and/or plain water (so no more caffeine after that.) 6 tsp worth of loose caffeinated tea would be an incredible caffeine jolt if he drinks that in a single mug of tea, and it doesn't sound healthy to me.

But this may not be  a fight worth having. Is he in generally good spirits after he's finished this tea? Would you be OK with him needing 10-15 minutes to "wake up" in the mornings (before doing anything else) if it didn't include ingesting something specific? It sounds like he's following the genotype diet and supportive of your healthy eating as well, which is a lot better than many of us have in our households.

Quoted Text

number two "should I interfere in my husband's diet."

I don't interfere in his diet. (If you don't already know, Lewis and I met here, on the first BTD message board. He is his own person, and marches to his own drummer.)

I try to make suggestions, and some things he does just to help me (like giving up having Ezekiel bread in the house while I'm grain free) but in no uncertain terms could I control what he puts in his mouth.

He does not get the balance of water that he normally would get if he had a regular cup. (for example, 1-2 tea bags per cup)

Choose your battles, KK.  

Quoted from Victoria

Choose your battles, KK.  

At this point the OCD extreme slob (not hoarding, thank goodness!) aspect of his personality is more important to keep under control lol!  Just wanted to have some health benefit/negative information for those times when his stomach gets upset.

Excessive tannins could certainly be a stomach irritant!  

I drank Gunpowder Green Tea a few times.     Strong stuff!  

It can't hurt to gently suggest that he drink all his caffeine in a more diluted form. If he resists changing his "mega tea" first thing in the morning, at least encourage him to drink plenty of water afterwards so his total tea/water ratio isn't too bad for the day.

She didn’t mention if she was drinking bottled flavored tea which might have HFCS + other ingredients or tea bags.   Amy could you tell us the brands & type (bottle, bags, loose) that you tried.

Greetings:

Like you, I've had very strong negative reactions to green tea.   In my case, piercing abdominal pains that started within a few minutes of drinking green tea.  The correlation was clear!  Tea quality was very good so that was not the issue.

Now, several years later, I find that I can sip (slowly) green tea and not get abdominal pains . . .but I still feel a bit off . . .

The exception for me has been Bancha . . a toasted green tea . . this can sometimes be used to settle stomach upsets . ..   For settling stomach upsets (queasiness, travel sickness . . ) however, I prefer strong ginger tea (Traditional Medicinals).

Good luck with your voyage into the world of tea.

Maja

Loose tea is always better quality then bagged tea.

I sometimes have stomach upset with green tea on an empty stomach. I do much better with green tea after I have lemon water in the AM.

i could not tolerate green tea on empty stomach either - it would make me nauseous and headachey.

with my swami i have green tea in genoharmonics, so i have taken to green tea first thing in the morning with a tspn of ghee or coconut oil and a dash of maple syrup.
very happy to report no nausea or headaches. this is a revelation for me  

look for green tea on your swami genoharmony combos and see if anything might make an appropriate addition, otherwise I would have it with or after food, and sip, no sculling  

Quoted from amynell2693

I'm a water drinker.  I like water...ALOT.  I bought some green tea to spice things up a bit and get some extra nutrition.  

I've now tried 3 different brands (and even white tea) and they all give me a horrible headache!  The headache cannot possibly be caused by anything else b/c it starts w/in 5 minutes of my first drink.  

I've only tried brands w/acceptable ingredients - honey & lemon, raspberry, etc. So I don't think that is the issue.

Anyone else have this problem when adding green tea to their diet?

When I drink green tea it upsets my stomach regardless of brand. I haven't given up yet, when I see a brand I've not tried I give it a try.
It's strange I can drink a cup of coffee on an empty stomach and not have any problem..
Love mint tea, always have it around.

My vote still goes for Mr. Itaru's tea that is sold in the BTD store.  I never fell in love with green tea until I tasted it.  

I agree about added ingredients, I don't know of any bottled green teas on the market that wouldn't give me a headache.  I have to avoid all corn derivatives, including natural flavorings, most ascorbic acid, and citric acid (the most common in drinks, also my worst reacting one).  Sencha shot just has ascorbic acid, but the purest is what you brew yourself.  You know it's good if it actually stays green during brewing (don't brew too hot or too long either, 30-60 seconds at most at pretty well below boiling).

Oh, and as an aside, don't mix green tea with apple juice...the taste is awful!

Quoted from Rodney

When I drink green tea it upsets my stomach regardless of brand. I haven't given up yet, when I see a brand I've not tried I give it a try.
It's strange I can drink a cup of coffee on an empty stomach and not have any problem..
Love mint tea, always have it around.

I used to start my day with a cup of coffee with stevia and coconut milk (obviously, pre-BTD.) I found it very soothing and satisfying and then I didn't need breakfast for a couple of hours.

I couldn't do that with green tea- I got nauseated. So now I start my day with another beverage (beet kvass or lemon water if I'm exercising, yerba mate with rice milk and blackstrap molasses if I'm in the mood for "coffee") and then have my green tea with or after breakfast. Green tea never gives me a problem if I drink it with or after meals. Sometimes I can tolerate it before "real food" if it's after my yerba mate and/or with juice added to my green tea (grapefruit and pineapple are genoharmonic  combinations, so I alternate the two.)

Quoted from Maja

The exception for me has been Bancha . . a toasted green tea . .

I think you mean Hojicha, which is kind of reprocessed Bancha .

Quoted from DenverFoodie

Start off with a good quality green tea (decaffeinated)

I didn't know you could get decaf green tea!  Thanks, I'll be on the lookout for some.

The process of decaffienating is not healthy at all...green tea doesnt have much caffiene in it anyway so its better to drink the regular suff.

There's more than one way to decaffienate tea. There's the chemical process which isn't healthy, and the water process which is fine. Some people are extremely caffeine sensitive and simply cannot tolerate caffeinated green tea.