Green Tea Benefits and the Best Green Tea in Pakistan

Walk into almost any Pakistani office after lunch and someone is dunking a green tea bag "for digestion" or "for weight". Green tea is one of the most searched drinks in the country, and a lot of what people believe about it is only half right.

This guide sets out what the research on green tea benefits actually supports, gives a straight answer on weight loss, and then compares the imported green teas we stock so you can pick one that suits how you drink it.

The short answer, and where to start

Brewed green tea is safe for most adults and a good habit if it replaces a sugary drink. The evidence for the big health claims is thin, and for weight loss the effect is too small to notice. If you enjoy the taste, these are the boxes we would start with (prices):

• Twinings Pure Green Tea, 25 bags (Rs 1,652), plain green tea with nothing added. The one to judge the others by.
• Ahmad Tea Jasmine Green Tea, 25 bags (Rs 543), the best value imported green tea we sell, at about Rs 22 a cup.
• Ahmad Tea Decaffeinated Green Tea, 20 bags (Rs 928), for a cup after Isha without most of the caffeine.

The full range is on our Green & Chinese Tea page, and the Tea department also has herbal and black teas. Every order is cash on delivery.

What green tea is

Green, black and oolong tea all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. The difference is processing. According to the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), green tea leaves are steamed, pan fried and dried but not fermented, while black tea is fermented and oolong is partly fermented.

So the leaves in your green tea bag and the patti in your chai are close relatives. Green tea keeps more of the leaf's natural catechins, the compounds behind most of the health interest. It also contains caffeine, usually less than black tea.

Green tea benefits: what the evidence says

NCCIH's summary is blunt. Many studies have been done on green tea, but definite conclusions cannot yet be reached on whether it helps with most of the things people use it for. That is the honest starting point. Here is where there is at least some support.

Heart health and cholesterol

NCCIH reports that drinking green tea has been linked to a lower risk of coronary heart disease in Asian populations, though not in Western ones. Studies like these show a link, not proof that the tea caused it.

In randomised trials, green tea lowered total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol to a small extent and had no effect on HDL or triglycerides. Most of those trials used green tea extract supplements rather than the drink, so a cup or two a day may do less than the trials suggest.

Cancer

Many studies have looked at green tea and the risk of different cancers. NCCIH describes the overall results as inconsistent. Treat any product or post that says green tea prevents cancer with suspicion.

Alertness without the jitters

The lift you feel from green tea is mostly caffeine. Tea leaves also contain L-theanine, an amino acid. A 2020 review of matcha research notes that L-theanine and caffeine together may help concentration more than either does alone. The research on this is still early.

A lighter swap for sweet chai

This benefit needs no clinical trial. Twinings lists its Pure Green Tea at 1 kcal per 100 ml when brewed, and its ingredient list is simply green tea. If green tea replaces one cup of doodh patti with two spoons of sugar each day, that is a real change in what you drink, even if it is a modest one.

Green tea for weight loss: the honest answer

This is the question behind a lot of green tea searches, so here it is plainly: green tea will not help you lose weight in any way you are likely to notice. We sell it as a good drink, not as a slimming product.

The strongest summary of the research is a Cochrane review of 15 weight-loss trials and three weight-maintenance trials. In all, 1,945 people completed them, each lasting 12 to 13 weeks. In the six trials run outside Japan, people taking green tea lost 0.04 kg more than those on a placebo, which is effectively nothing. Waist size changed by 0.2 cm.

Trials in Japan showed bigger differences, but they were too different from each other to combine. The reviewers concluded that green tea preparations cause a small, statistically non-significant weight loss in overweight or obese adults that is not likely to be clinically important, with no benefit for keeping weight off.

Most of those trials used concentrated extracts, which are stronger than a tea bag in hot water. NCCIH puts it the same way: the catechins and caffeine in green tea may have a modest effect on body weight, depending on the product and how active you are.

In practice, drink green tea because you like it and because it replaces something sweeter. Weight comes down through the slow, unglamorous things: what and how much you eat, and how much you move. Our guide to losing weight naturally covers those, and the calorie calculator gives you a daily starting number.

Green tea capsules are a different story

Green tea extract capsules sold for weight loss are not the same as a cup of tea. NCCIH notes that liver injury, though uncommon, has been reported in some people using green tea products, mainly extracts in tablet or capsule form. Side effects of extracts include nausea, constipation, stomach discomfort and raised blood pressure.

The drink is a different matter. NCCIH says no safety concerns have been reported for green tea drunk as a beverage by adults, apart from its caffeine.

How much caffeine is in green tea?

Less than coffee and usually less than black tea, but not zero. The US FDA gives typical amounts for a 12 fl oz (355 ml) drink: about 37 mg for green tea, 71 mg for black tea and 113 to 247 mg for regular brewed coffee. On those figures a normal 200 ml cup of green tea has roughly 20 mg.

Brewing time and the tea itself change the number. The NHS plays it safe in its pregnancy advice and counts 75 mg for a cup of black or green tea. For most adults, the FDA cites 400 mg a day as an amount not generally linked to negative effects.

Who should be careful

• Pregnancy: the NHS says to keep caffeine under 200 mg a day from all sources, and that includes chai, coffee, cola and chocolate. The decaf box makes this easy. Ask your doctor if you are unsure.
• Low iron: the NHS lists tea among the drinks that, in large amounts, make it harder for your body to absorb iron from food and tablets. If you take iron tablets, ask your doctor how to time your tea around it. The NHS iron deficiency page has more.
• Regular medicines: NCCIH notes that green tea at high doses can lower blood levels of nadolol, a beta-blocker, and green tea extract can lower levels of atorvastatin, a cholesterol drug. If you take daily medicine, check with your doctor or pharmacist.

The best green tea in Pakistan: what we stock

Every box below is imported and sold sealed. Prices are ours; the cost per cup is the box price divided by the number of bags.

Tea	Taste	Bags	Price	Per cup	Best for
Twinings Pure Green Tea	Clean, light, a little grassy	25	Rs 1,652	about Rs 66	Plain green tea, no flavouring
Twinings Green Tea & Lemon	Bright and citrusy	25	Rs 1,652	about Rs 66	Iced green tea in summer
Twinings Green Tea Mint	Cool and fresh	25	Rs 1,595	about Rs 64	After biryani or a late dinner
Ahmad Tea Jasmine Green Tea	Fragrant, smooth, fuller	25	Rs 543	about Rs 22	A cheap daily habit
Ahmad Tea Decaffeinated Green Tea	Soft, close to regular	20 (foil)	Rs 928	about Rs 46	Evenings and pregnancy
ITO EN Matcha Green Tea	Smooth and savoury	20 (wrapped)	Rs 2,595	about Rs 130	A Japanese-style cup, hot or cold

Twinings also makes jasmine, ginger and Earl Grey green teas, and all of them are on the Green & Chinese Tea page.

How to choose

• You find plain green tea too grassy: start with Mint or Lemon. The flavour carries you while you get used to it.
• You want to know what green tea really tastes like: Twinings Pure, brewed short.
• You drink two or three cups a day: Ahmad Jasmine keeps the habit at about a third of the price of Twinings.
• You want a cup after dinner, or you are pregnant: Ahmad Decaffeinated.
• You are curious about matcha but do not want a whisk and powder: the ITO EN blend. It is green tea blended with real matcha, in a bag.

How to brew green tea so it is not bitter

Twinings' own instruction for Pure Green Tea is one bag in 200 ml of freshly boiled water for 3 minutes. If that tastes bitter to you, and for many people it does, let the kettle rest for a minute or two first and take the bag out sooner. Bitterness usually comes from water that is too hot or a bag left in too long.

Skip the milk; it does not suit green tea. A squeeze of lemon or a little honey is fine. If your tap water is hard, filtered water usually gives a cleaner taste. In the monsoon, keep an opened box closed and away from the stove so the bags do not pick up damp and kitchen smells.

More guides in this series

• Chamomile tea: benefits, brewing and who should avoid it
• Matcha in Pakistan: caffeine and how to make it

Sources

• NCCIH: Green Tea, Usefulness and Safety
• Cochrane review: Green tea for weight loss and weight maintenance in overweight or obese adults
• US FDA: Spilling the Beans, how much caffeine is too much?
• NHS: Foods to avoid in pregnancy
• NHS: Iron deficiency anaemia
• Kochman et al., Health Benefits and Chemical Composition of Matcha Green Tea: A Review (Molecules, 2020)
• Twinings: Pure Green Tea