Nutrition Data for various types of teas

[AdamMY]

When I started to get more serious about my weight, one of the things I started to do was look up nutritional data for most of the items I consume on a regular basis. This however seems to have not been studied much at all. On the one site I often look they do have this for Black Tea brewed with tap water:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beverages/3967/2

Besides that they do not have anything on green teas, or oolong teas. I also am quite certain that the data in the link above does not quite apply towards the way most of us brew our teas.

So I have stuck with a somewhat maybe over simplified rule of thumb, I don't pay too much attention to the numbers, but realize no matter what tea I drink I am likely getting some amount of the vitamins, minerals, etc. listed on that page. I am also wondering if anyone has found a more complete/ detailed source for this information?

[debunix]

There just can't be enough of anything there to make a serious difference to your nutritional status. Metabolic/stimulatory effects of caffeine/theanine, yes, but you'd do much better to spend your time learning to cook a wide variety of whole healthy foods, especially vegetables, than looking for ever more detail on trace mineral, vitamins, phytochemicals in brewed tea.

[AdamMY]

There just can't be enough of anything there to make a serious difference to your nutritional status. Metabolic/stimulatory effects of caffeine/theanine, yes, but you'd do much better to spend your time learning to cook a wide variety of whole healthy foods, especially vegetables, than looking for ever more detail on trace mineral, vitamins, phytochemicals in brewed tea.

I wholly agree, I just thought it was interesting as I was looking everything up. One thing that did seem a bit shocking though is how high some of those levels actually were. I'd have thought they would basically all be 0 / immeasurable. But 3% of your daily requirement of Potassium is nice, especially if you work out a lot in which case it seems it is hard to get enough potassium.

[kikula]

Running tea through Cron-O-meter* yields:
For one cup of black tea -
3% Riboflavin
1% B5
3% Folate
3% Copper
1% Iron
2% Magnesium
29% Manganese
2% Potassium
1% Sodium
1% Zinc
0% all other vitamins and ) of course for lipids, proteins and carbs

For 2 grams of dry matcha -
11% B1
2% B2
1% B6
19% Vit A
5% Vit C
4% Vit E
64% Vit K
1% calcium
1% copper
4 % iron
1% magnesium
1 % phosphorus
1% potassium
3% fiber
1% protein
0% for everything else.

Nada for any other tea.

* That's % of daily nutritional minimum requirement for 5'4, 122 pound female (me) using the Dietary Reference Intake standard, which you can read about in Wiki if you're into all that.

In any case, it's pretty close to trace on most basic nutrients, as I expected, with a few matcha surprises; black tea pretty close to the data Adam linked to.

I think most everyone would agree that it's mostly about healthy food and exercise. Still, tea possesses interesting properties that seem to align with feeling well. I enjoy the mystique and it's a good idea to cheerfully invest in beneficial placebos. They work, and that's extremely well researched. There's more in heaven and earth than ...

[Tony]

But we don't stop drinking after just one cup, do we?

[AlexZorach]

This is a topic I've gone through a lot in the course of my research to write the informational articles on RateTea, so maybe I can save you some of the trouble.

The nutritiondata site on Self.com just references the USDA nutrient database (although I find it a much easier format to view, search, and browse, so I use it as a reference when I want to view USDA data).

And the USDA just hasn't sampled much in the way of individual teas...the figures there are probably going to be a good ballpark estimate for a store brand of low-quality black tea in tea bags, but I wouldn't draw any conclusions about the nutritional content matching up for artisan teas.

I think you need to scour the primary literature (try a Google Scholar search) to find what you are looking for, although you can get some info on caffeine and antioxidants (not a complete nutritional analysis) on Camellia Sinensis Tea House's page on tea and health. Unfortunately there's not all that much info out there, and a lot of it is not in open-access journals. I really wish more companies would conduct those sorts of studies the way Camellia Sinensis did. The fact that a small company like them can afford to do it shows that it's more accessible/practical to do so than one might think.

[AlexZorach]

But 3% of your daily requirement of Potassium is nice, especially if you work out a lot in which case it seems it is hard to get enough potassium.

The stuff I've read has suggested that Potassium is one of the few nutrients for which tea contributes substantial amounts, although I think it's only really a major factor for populations who are drinking a lot of tea and whose diet is otherwise low in potassium.

Pretty much any fruit or vegetable is a good source of potassium, so it's mostly a problem for people who don't eat enough of these things (which in the U.S., unfortunately, is a lot of people).

Green tea does have a bit of Vitamin C but it's small, and certainly not enough to be a primary source of Vitamin C...perhaps significant as a supplemental source if you happen to drink a lot of green teas that are very fresh and higher in Vitamin C, but even then, a bunch of cups is still going to negligible in comparison with an orange, kiwi, or even a quarter of a bell pepper.

[toasterburn]

Right, if it was a huge concern a simple multivitamin would be a better option, though most people get everything they need from just eating a balanced diet. Of course, the inherent health benefits of various teas are nice. For example, I've read that Chamomile has antimicrobial properties so the theory is that it helps prevent colds.

[AdamMY]

I feel like a lot of health things are more or less: If we did everything ideally, there would be no need to discuss this. I mean in a somewhat related fashion there would be no need to discuss hangover cures if people did not drink in excess. (I bring it up because I've seen it mentioned a few places that tea is a great hangover cure, likely because of trace minerals/ nutrients and if not brewed very strong will help hydrate the body, which is one of the biggest issues with hangovers).

Honestly I never thought my old diet was that bad, in fact I considered it almost healthy compared to what I've seen and often heard my fellow grad students eating. That was until I really started working out often, and running at least 15 miles a week, suddenly what was an otherwise healthy diet providing enough nutrients for a rather sedentary lifestyle, left my body continuously craving more, and since then I've loved being able to get any extra nutrients I could (especially in something as low in calories as tea).


I am still by no means saying that tea can replace any well balanced diet. This is more of a: it honestly helps us be healthier than we [ or maybe just I] originally thought.

[toasterburn]

I'm trying to lose weight too (which is why I started drinking tea, as a replacement for soft drinks) so for the past two years I've been on-again-off-again exercising and dieting. What I soon realized was that none of the standard diets (low carb, low calorie, ect.) gave me enough energy to make it through a workout without getting dizzy. I was also much hungrier, and tended to eat way more on workout days. But if I dieted only without working out, I didn't loose weight.

For the last two months though I've been trying to really commit to living a healthier lifestyle. I started doing the Paleo diet, which is very restrictive but seems to be working well for me. And I started regularly exercising (which for me consists of Jiu-Jitsu classes 2-3 times a week, and walking 30 mins a day). So far so good. I plan to also start exercising 20 mins every morning before work, and I'm looking at my diet regularly to see how I can further improve it.

[Suutej_Tsaj]

Ippodo's webpage provides some information on the components of Japanese greens, although it's not much: http://www.ippodo-tea.co.jp/en/tea/component.html