Caffeine can cause so many side effects including anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, nausea, stomach issues, addiction, headaches, chest pains, agitation, and more. There are a whole host of reasons why caffeine could be cut back or removed from one’s diet. Those seeking better health through a Paleo or Auto-immune protocol diet also do best when caffeine is removed.
Removing caffeine from your daily habit can be ruff though. Replacing coffee with yummy drinks like chicory root tea or dandelion tea is super helpful. Along with sipping on continuous brew kombucha or herbal kombucha along the way.
But doesn’t tea have more caffeine than coffee? Or does it?
Before we start:
This herbal information is just that, information, not medical advice. This blog post and I DO NOT INTEND to treat, cure, or diagnose any disease or illness. This is for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only. Please consult a physician before using herbs medicinally.
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Does Tea Have More Caffeine Than Coffee
In discovering whether the tea has more caffeine than the coffee we really need to define the word tea. It could mean many different things to different people. Tea technically comes from the camellia sinensis plant. That includes black tea, Assam, Ceylon, green tea, white tea, Pu-erh, Sencha, Jasmine, and the list could go on. Now there are also herbal teas, more properly called Tisanes. These herbal infusions a.k.a. Herbal teas come from any plant that is not the camellia sinensis plant.
- Black teas have approximately 47 milligrams of caffeine per 1 cup of black tea.
- Green teas have approximately 28 milligrams of caffeine per 1 cup of green tea.
- White teas have approximately 6-55 milligrams of caffeine per 1 cup of white tea.
So when you have a cup of brewed coffee is it tea or coffee that has more caffeine?
A cup of coffee contains 95 milligrams of caffeine per 1 cup. WOw! That is almost double the highest amount of caffeine contained in any type of tea. I guess it is obvious that even a black or green tea would cut your caffeine load in half. Along with cutting down your risk for anxiety, insomnia, and other health issues.
Caffeine Free Tea
If you are pursuing a Whole30, Paleo, or AIP diet then the tea is on the acceptance list, albeit with some acceptions for those on an autoimmune protocol diet. As seen above cutting the caffeine level can cut so many side effects. Switching from coffee to black or green tea can cut that caffeine consumption in half.
But what if we could cut the side effects of caffeine out altogether?
Herbal teas are naturally caffeine free which is different than decaffeinated teas. Decaffeinated teas use a chemical process to remove the caffeine from the tea. So a decaf black tea is going to be much less healthy because of the chemical process.
A healthful benefit of loose leaf tea, especially herbal teas, aside from their lack of caffeine is that they come packed full of an array of different flavors along with separate medicinal benefits for the different kinds of tea ingredients.
Here are some great herbal tea recommendations for Whole30, Paleo and organized for the AIP diet (since it is the most restrictive):
Elimination Phase compliant
Rose Garden Repose (a chamomile tea)
Just Peppermint (a peppermint tea)
Kombucha is Elimination Phase compliant, and so are these flavors:)
Teas for brewing Kombucha- not drinking straight at this stage
Phase 1 Reintro compliant (herbal)
Phase 1 Reintro compliant (green/black tea)
Mossy Rock Green Tea
Jasmine Green Tea
Three Sisters Black Tea Blend
Southern Sweet (not prepared with sugar, of course)
Southern Belle Earl Gray
AIP Recipes
Aside from caffeine intake, meal prep is super important on the Autoimmune protocol diet (as well as Paleo and Whole30). Part of that meal prep starts with how to replace those caffeinated drinks but may also involve finding recipes that work, especially if they are grain-free recipes.
Here are a few AIP Breakfast recipes that look super tasty:
- Perfect Zero Mess Bacon
- Dairy-Free Yogurt
- Lemon-Blueberry Mason Jar Parfait (skip the eggs in the lemon curd and just make a lemon sauce!)
- Coconut Date Bars
- Easy Pumpkin Custard
- Mango Sticky Rice
Now that we know the dangers of caffeine, all about different caffeine-free teas great for Paleo, Whole30, and AIP diets, we have so many new options on our menus. If you would love some more drink ideas make sure that you grab our free Cooking with Tea e-book with tons of Paleo options.
I’d love to know though! What is the drink that you will be giving up in order to cut back on caffeine and what will you miss most about it? Let this coffee addict turned tea aficionado know down below in the comments.
More Paleo Drink Recipes
- Paleo Thai Tea
- Does Chai Tea Have Caffeine?
- Tazo® Passion Fruit Tea Hack
- Green Tea Mint Julep
- Irish Coffee with Chicory Root Tea
- DIY Simple Syrup with Rose Tea
- How to Make Herbal Kombucha
- Peach Kombucha Rita
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