A Naturopathic Guide to Tea: Types, Benefits, and How to Brew

Tea is more than a cozy habit. Depending on what’s in your cup, it can support digestion, calm your nervous system, and even help your heart. This post walks through the different types of tea, how much caffeine they contain, and the best ways to prepare them.

True Teas vs. Herbal Teas

There are really two families of tea. True teas all come from one plant, Camellia sinensis, and usually contain caffeine. Herbal teas, also called tisanes, are herbal preparations made from other plants. Many of us call them tea, but they aren’t technically teas.

Green, oolong, and black tea come from the same plant. The difference is oxidation, which shapes flavor, caffeine, and the way each tea affects the body.

(full transcript below!)

Matcha and Your Caffeine Cup

Matcha is its own category. Instead of steeping leaves and drinking the water, you’re drinking the whole powdered leaf. That means more catechins, more theanine, and more caffeine, so choose an organic, high quality source.

For caffeine, coffee sits at the top, and black tea is usually next. Yerba mate has the widest range, anywhere from low to almost as high as coffee. Green, oolong, and white tea are lower.

Infusion vs. Decoction

Think of it this way: infusion for leaves, decoction for roots.

An infusion is hot water poured over leaves and steeped for 5 to 10 minutes. A decoction is for tougher ingredients like roots, bark, and seeds, simmered on the stove for 15 to 20 minutes.

Green and white teas do best with cooler water, around 170 to 180°F, for just 2 to 3 minutes. Cover your cup while it steeps so the aromatic oils stay in your tea.

Herbs for Every Need

I've grouped my favorite herbal teas by what they support:

• Digestion: gentian, dandelion, and artichoke leaf before meals, and peppermint, fennel, ginger, and chamomile after

• Calm: lemon balm and tulsi for the day, chamomile and lavender for evening

• Stress: adaptogens like tulsi, ashwagandha, and schisandra

• Heart and metabolism: hibiscus, hawthorn, and cinnamon

• Immune and respiratory: elderberry, thyme, mullein, and echinacea

  • A quick note on elderberry: Enjoy it as a tea, or make sure the berries are cooked or properly prepared. Never eat raw elderberries, as they can be toxic.

Simple Tips for a Better Cup

Choose loose leaf tea when you can, since bagged teas can contain microplastics. A cotton bag or fine mesh strainer works well.

If you love honey in your tea, let your cup cool for a few minutes first. Hot water can reduce honey’s benefits.

Tea Benefits Transcript

"Welcome in. We're talking all about tees today and I've got mine. I'm sporting a licorice tea today. Is anybody else sporting a tea? You can put it in the chat or show your mug this. Yes. Excellent. So, today we're going to talk all about the different types of tees, the benefits of tees, and then a guide for caffeine and how to best prepare teas.

Now, I'll just caveat that there is so much going on in the tea world that we are going to barely scratch the surface today. Uh there are just so many and a lot of you actually are taking some herbal preparations in supplement form. We'll talk about them botanically and what they do medically. Some of them you can have as a tease. So, it'll be fun to see if there are any herbs that you hear like, "Oh, I know that one because I'm taking that one. So let's dive in and I want to first highlight that there are really two families of teas.

So there's a true tea which means it comes from a particular plant. It tends to have caffeine in it. And then there are herbal tees or they're called tissans. And this means that they are usually called teas in a conversational type way, but they're they're not technically teas. They are herbal preparations. These all have different effects on your body. They have different effects on your mood. They have different effects on your cells. So, we will go into all of them today or as many as we can. There's a lot there's a lot of teas out there and a lot of herbal teas more specifically. But in terms of the true tea families, they all come from this plant, this chameleia sinencis, and they have different oxidation levels that help to determine their flavor profile, how much caffeine is in them, but also the effect that they have on the body.

So, a lot of these you might have heard of. There's green tea, which is the least oxidized, and it has some compounds in it like ECGC and althanine that have their health benefits. Green tea tends to be very strong in antioxidants, but in terms of nervous system, it gives this focused calm feeling. So there's an alertness because of a little bit of caffeine, but the elenine also has a calming aspect. So that can be that can be a very cool thing about green tea. Now, ulong tea is partially oxidized and it has a lot of antioxidants. There are a bunch of health benefits from ulong tea just because of the polyphenols. It's specifically helpful for cholesterol and lipid metabolism and also glucose.

And then black tea. So think of these three as a chunk. We've got the green tea as the least oxidized, the ulong in the middle partially, and then the black tea is fully oxidized. Now, black tea doesn't have as many health benefits because of that oxidation portion, but there are some things like theoflavins that are really good for heart health. Now, black tea has a lot of different subcategories. We won't go into all of those today, but just for your reference, you might have seen some of these like asam tea, dargiling tea, salon tea, an English breakfast tea. These are all different types of black tea. Now, they are a wonderful addition to a morning routine, especially if you're looking for caffeine, but not quite at that level of coffee. But in terms of the oxidation profile, there tends to be more oxidation with black tea, and that's how it gets black. These are all from the same plant. It's just how much oxidation is happening.

Now, matcha, this gets its own special note because matcha is a different preparation than any of these other teas where other teas you're steeping the herbs or you're steeping the leaves into water and then you're drinking the steep. A matcha is actually the tea leaf powdered and it's the whole leaf. So, when you're drinking a cup of matcha, you're consuming the entire leaf. Now, for those of you who have watched the microbiome master class on how to get 30 plants per week and how to help your microbiome through that way, matcha would count as eating a plant per week because you're eating that whole leaf. Whereas teas and herbal preparations, they don't really count as in that plant tally for 30 plants per week because you're just drinking the steep. It'd be like the difference of eating almond butter where like almonds are ground up and you're eating it versus almond milk where almond the almonds are just steeped in water and you're getting the the flavor. So matcha you get the entire leaf which means that it has more catechins. It has more theanine. It also has more caffeine. So, because you're eating the entire plant, be sure to choose a good quality source, like organic and as high quality as possible, so you're not getting any of those nasty additives.

Then, white tea. This is related to green tea, but it's min minimally processed. It's a delicate little leaves. It's usually not as a mature leaf, so it's lower in caffeine, but it has a lot of that antioxidant potential. And the gu this is a bit more related to the black tea where it's fermented and aged. So these black tea leaves are go through this really beautiful process. It's quite a rich history process, but it gets it this earthy flavor. And these are very traditional type of tea that's usually drank after meals. So here's a caffeine cheat sheet. Feel free to take a screenshot of this. This is a nice reference of how much caffeine is really in all of these different types of preparations, including coffee as a reference. So, as you can see, there is a range. There's a low estimate and a high estimate. And it can really depend on the tea leaf and the grade and how much you're brewing it, how long you're brewing it. That can all affect the caffeine content. But generally coffee is our reference at the top. Black tea is the almost always the second highest but yerba mate can have high as well. Yerba mate is interesting because it has the widest range. It could be minimal caffeine or it could be quite high almost as high as coffee. So those two have the highest caffeine. Matcha because you're getting the entire leaf does have more than your classic green tea. And then oolong, green tea, white tea are at the the bottom three.

Couple of caffeine-free options that I put on this slide, but we're not going to talk about them with the other herbs because they don't have as much medicinal properties, but there's right here are Roobios, honey bush, and then most of the herbal tea that we'll be talking about today. But Roobios and Honey Bush are really nice caffeine-free alternatives if you're looking for the flavor of some of these. They usually will have a Roobios chai or a Honey Bush chai so that you're getting a lot of good flavor of black tea but without the black tea.

All right, so the brewing basics, we'll talk just a touch about this. There are two ways. There's the infusion, which is when you're pouring hot water onto the leaves and you steep it. And then there's a decoction. Now I want you to think of infusion for leaves, decoction for roots. So decoction is when things are more hearty like a root or a bark like cinnamon or a seed, something that is really needs more gusto to break down and to get all of the medicinal properties. So an infusion, you steep it for about 5 to 10 minutes, whereas a decoction is you're simmering it on the stove top for 15 to 20 minutes. That's how you get the medicinal properties from each of these. Now, when you're doing an infusion, there are some specific temperature guides which can be helpful. And feel free to screenshot this, too, if that would be supportive. And it always depends on the type of tea that you're having. So, green and white tea have a lower temperature that's needed. And it's really quite a short steep. So, 100 to 70 to 180° F for 2 to 3 minutes. And always put a little cap on your cup when you're steeping it because that keeps the aromatic oils in your tea as opposed to you're losing them from the steam.

So when you pour your you've got your leaves and then you pour your water on, put a saucer on top for that steep time so that all of the medicinal properties stay in your beverage as opposed to being lost in the air. And then with most black teas and herbal teas, it's recommended to do boiling water. For some of the herbs we'll talk about today, some of them are more delicate and they don't need boiling water, but tends to be that the herbal teas and the black teas respond well to that full hot. Whereas green tea and white tea, it can be a little bit less about 170 to 180.

Okay, now let's get into the herbs. this I got to go through some of my medicinary and my materia medica. These are such cool plants you guys. It is it's a delight to get to share them. And a lot of these we use in the clinic as teas but we can also use them as supplements can use them as powders. So these herbs that we'll be talking about I've put in categories for you. So the first category are gut soothers and carminatives. Carminatives mean that they decrease gas, they decrease bloating.

So in these categories, I put some as before meals, during meals, and after. Now the before meals are bitters. Some of you have taken bitters. Bitters are bitter on purpose. They tend to make the salivary glands contract and that stimulates digestive juices. So these are so good to take before a meal because they can make it so that the digestion works better. So some bitters that you can use as teas are a gention, dandelion, and artichoke leaf. You can sip it 10 to 15 minutes before a meal time to boost digestion. And the you can take them any time of day, but if you're taking them before a meal, you'll get the most bang for your buck.

Now, during meals or even right before are some soothers, and these are ones that help to coat the lining of the digestive tract. So, I usually will prescribe these for people who have acid reflux or people have a t sensitive stomach or especially if people have ulcers in their stomach that they're wanting to coat but not have irritation when they're eating. So, marshmallow root, slippery elm, licorice can be really nice. Now, that's what I'm drinking today. I'm drinking some licorice tea. However, I put a parenthesis here because there's a kind called DGL. This means deglycerated licorice. Deglycerated licorice is usually in a chewable that you'd take before meal times. It's really good for people who have acid reflux. Typically, it's not found in a tea, but licorice, something to note is that licorice can increase your blood pressure. But if you do this DGL form, the deglycerated, it doesn't have that effect. So, these can be really nice to to have as a a soother before meal times. I also just love the taste of licorice. I find that licorice is a very polarizing flavor. I would be curious if you can put in the chat or raise a hand if you like the taste of licorice or if you don't like put no or a thumbs down because it's for some reason it seems to be very 50/50. Um I am in the pro licorice camp but I'm curious to hear what you are.

And then the last one on this one is after meals. So these are the carminatives. Excellent. I'm seeing some other licorice fans. This is this makes me happy. So after meals, the carminatives are the ones that decrease gas and bloating. So they decrease any air that can happen in the stool or excuse me in the stool. True, but also in the digestive system. Now, April, you're not liking licorice. That's good to know. So the there are so many of these, but my favorites and the one that I see work work the best are peppermint, fennel, ginger, and chamomile. Chamomile we'll see in a couple other slides because it has a calming effect too. But chamomile is a carminative and it can help to decrease gas. One note just because these herbs are very important to me and I want to make sure that we can have them for long term. Slippery elm does tend to be overh harvested. This is the one that soos the digestive tract. So if you use slippery elm, it's usually in a powder. be sure to seek a sustainably sourced option so that we're not uh overh harvesting our our beautiful herbs.

Okay, let's go to the next category is nervvines. These are excellent for the nervous system and chamomile as you'll see is in this category too. I categorize these as daytime and evening. So the daytime ones give you a sense of calm without being sedating. Lemon balm, also known as melissa, afficionalis, tulsi, which is holy basil, and oat straw are really nice options. And these are lovely if you're just feeling a little bit tense, but you don't want to go to sleep. Oh, on the other hand, if you're wanting to wind down and do a preedtime ritual, chamomile, passionflower, and lavender are so nice to help with ease in that transition. Skullcap is also another one which some of you might have taken or heard other people take as a capsule before meal times because Skullcap is very good for tension and restlessness, but it helps with the nerves in the digestive tract. So, taking skull cap and genten together is a really great combo for stimulating digestion but help to calm the nervous system and get you in that rest and digest state.

Okay, another category, adaptogens. Adaptogens means that these adapt to what your body needs, especially when it comes to a stress response. So, if you're feeling quite stressed and you need to calm, they usually pick up on that signal. Or if you're too tired and you need to ramp up, they can pick up on that signal, too. These build up over weeks. It's usually a one and done isn't going to to do it, but they can be quite nice. So, we see that Tulsi the holy basil again. Ashwagandha is another good one. This is t typically in a powder or a capsule as well. But this one, it has some immune support. So, we want to be mindful with autoimmune disease. And then these last two, I'm curious if you've heard of them. Although it's also known as Siberian ginseng. This is very energizing, very good to take in the morning. You can take it as a capsule or as a tea. But there is Korean ginseng as well, which is the original type of jinseng. It is also the most potent. So there's the Korean jinseng and then the Siberian ginseng. Both have the same energizing effect, but the Korean ginsing is much more strong. And then schisandra. This is a beautiful, beautiful herb. If you ever get the chance to taste it, please take that opportunity. It is called the Chinese five flavored berry. The five flavors there's there's a whole Chinese medicine way of thinking about this, but Chisandra has all five. So that means it's a little bit bitter, it's a little bit sweet, it's a little bit sour, it's a little bit earthy, it's got it's got all of this and it's very good for building stamina. It's a great adaptogen, a beautiful it's aesthetically very beautiful, but also has a very cool effect on the body.

Okay, two more categories. One is cardiometabolic teas. Now, these are ones that are good for the heart and good for the metabolism. A couple of notes here are habiscus is good for the blood pressure. That tends to be the main way that it's used. But I wanted to give you a bonus for any of you who have kids or grandkids or you just like to pamper yourself. Hibiscus is a bright red flower. You you'll you would recognize it if you see it. It's a bright red flower and when it's dried, it makes almost like a deep dark purple or a deep dark red look with its leaves. This makes the best bubble baths. So, if you have kids who want to take a fun bath, put the bubbles in, put the soap in, but then get a tea bag. Do it with a tea bag because I've accidentally done it without the tea bag before and it was just a mess. But put your your habiscus leaves in a tea bag, steep it in the bath. So, you're making a very big pot of tea, but steep it in the bath and your bath water will turn pink and it's a very fabulous way to take a bath. So use that as a back pocket tool. It's very fun. And we'll talk about the ways the different ways that I recommend uh steeping your tea for drinking as well uh in a moment. So hibiscus is a great one for blood pressure and bubble baths.

Hawthorne is very good for blood pressure. It's also a heart tonic. And hawthorne, if you can visualize, hawthorne is also a a deep dark berry and it's surrounded by thorns. So there's this idea in herbal medicine that something is so good for the heart, but it's got these thorny barriers. So Hawthorne is thought to open the heart space but help you with boundaries. So I think it's a a really beautiful uh there's a doctrine of signatures. That's what it's called where it's got this physical properties but then this energetic properties too. Lyden is great for supporting relaxation. And then cinnamon is good for blood sugar. It's also very warming and can improve blood flow as well. And then we get those green and ulong teas. These are so good for the heart. So bringing them back into the fold here.

Now immune and respiratory. They're we're getting about into cold and flu season. So I wanted to bring these to your attention. These are so good to have on hand. Elderberry, a great cold and flu staple, but only use it in tea form or if you get the raw berries, make sure they're cooked or prepared. Never eat the raw berries. They make uh cyanide in your body with the digestion. So it's very toxic. Don't never eat the raw ones. And then thyme and mullen are very nice herbs for the lungs. It can soothe a cough but also can loosen mucus. And then echania is really great for specifically bacterial colds and colds. So this can this can be a great immune system support to have in a tea form.

And an extra bonus notes are some urinary formulas and women's health formulas. So urinary support tees are one of the best things to do because if people are having urinary issues, they usually need more hydration. So teas you're getting the herbs plus you're getting hydration. Corn silk is one of the best herbs for urinary piece. It has a mild diuretic effect. And then you can bring bring that marshmallow in again too because that's the the one that coats the insides of the tubes. So it even coats the insides of the urinary tubes too. Horsetail, same thing. Corn silk and horsetail are like the top two tees for urinary issues. And then of course consult with your doc if you need to do any uh tees for UTI because there can you don't want to miss any something that could be potentially harmful.

And then women's health. We've got raspberry leaf. It's a uterine tonic. It's very good for helping to regulate women's hormones. Red clover has phytoestrogens in it. So I love using this for people in pmenopause and menopause. It's also very good for skin. Nettles is a rich mineral is is probably the richest mineral dense herb that we've got. It's rich in iron, calcium, and magnesium. So, this is great for women's health for pregnancies or for people that are losing nutrients and blood materials during periods, but anybody that's malnourished, nettle is a great one. And lemon balm, ginger, and cinnamon, we're seeing some overlap here, but lemon balm is very good for mood swings. It's a very happy herb and it can help to give people some levity. Then, chasteed berry, also known as vitex and jongquai. These are great PMS herbs. So you might have seen these in some of your herbal formulas in supplement form.

Now I want to recognize that there are herbs that we didn't get through here and there's some steeping ways that we can talk about. So if you have other herbal questions or you have specific herbs that you want to know more about, I'd love to talk herbs. But let's talk about just the the basics on you saw an herb that you want to try or saw a tea that you want to try. What's the best way to go the bagged teas tend to have microplastics. So, I always recommend if you can get a loose leaf and either get your own cute little cotton bag or this is my like I think it's called like a steeposaurus or something like it's the cutest thing where there's silicon and then you can put your leaves in there and then let it soak. These these and the little mesh balls are the most popular um around. I think they're also the most cumbersome to fit the leaves in because it ends up being a mess and then the little some of the little particles steep through. So, while they're cute and very accessible, I will say they're they can be a bit cumbersome. So, instead the cotton bags can be good or get a fine mesh holder. And these I mean, you can barely even see the holes on this because they're so fine. And then you can put your teas in the little bucket. And I usually just take a a chopstick and put that over the the water. So that can be a really nice way to do it, too. So if you've got, this is an example of some something that I would decoct. This needs to be boiled for 15 to 20 minutes cuz it's got berries, nuts, and seeds in there. It's got barks. So there's fennel seed, some anise seed, some cinnamon bark. This one's really nice. But I would recommend putting this into water, boil it for 15 to 20 minutes, and then strain it using a little a strainer, a fine strainer, or if you have a mesh strainer, that could work, too.

All right, last thing. And then I want to hear your questions. What about honey? What if you put honey in your tea? That's great. You're getting extra benefits. I've got some manuka honey here. This is extra beneficial for antibacterial. It's very good for colds and colds especially, not necessarily flu, but it's good for immune support. The health benefits of honey degrade if you put it in hot water. So, if you're making your boiling pot of tea and then you put in honey, you're not going to get any of the medicinal benefits of the honey. It'll probably taste sweet, but it's not going to be medically sound. So if you steep your tea, let it steep and then let it cool off for a few minutes and then add it to your cup and have a wonderfully medicinal cup of tea with your manuka honey. There are herbs we didn't talk about specifically in detoxification. There's pieces we didn't talk about here, so we can always do a part two. But I'm so curious to hear your questions and thanks for wanting to celebrate tea.