Does Green Tea Calm You Down?

You may have heard a lot of information about green tea and are wondering if all its prospective health benefits are true. There have been multiple studies conducted to see why green tea is so popular and if it is able to provide relief for certain health concerns. In this article, we will discuss whether green tea is able to calm you down. Keep reading for the answer to this question and more.

Drinking Green Tea

All over the world, people enjoy drinking green tea. Some people like it because it is a healthier option than other beverages out there. You should consider reading this article about some of the health benefits associated with green tea, so you can determine for yourself if you should start drinking it. If you already drink tea, it might make you think about drinking more of it.

Can Green Tea Alter Moods?

There is a lot of information you can find about how green tea may be able to alter moods in people of different ages. This could be true. Nature reports that although science hasn’t been able to make a definitive link between tea and better moods, many people who drink it believe that it can improve their moods. For this reason, it is being studied to see if it may be beneficial as a tool when it comes to treating depression and other types of mental health conditions.

Should I Drink Green Tea If I Am In A Bad Mood?

You do not need to stay away from tea if you are in a bad mood. However, there is also no guarantee that it will be able to improve your mood. If you are someone who experiences mood changes often or could have a mental health issue, you should think about meeting with a professional who will be able to provide you with further information on the treatment of these types of conditions. 

Will Green Tea Help Me Calm Down?

While there is no concrete evidence to indicate that green tea will calm you down by itself, it may be able to play a role in helping you calm down and relax. This drink is thought to be able to hydrate you, help your brain work as it should, and protect you from certain diseases. This could be because it is a natural product that contains cancer-fighting substances, which may be able to improve all aspects of your health. In other words, tea might be able to help you calm down, but there isn’t just one reason why this is true. There are many reasons why it may help you calm down. Here is a look at some of the possibilities.

• You may enjoy drinking it, which can help you relax.
• If you drink it hot, it may help you unwind after a long day.
• Drinking multiple cups a day can help you increase your recommended water intake.
• The caffeine boost many types of green tea contain might be able to keep you feeling good.
• Ingesting green tea instead of soda or other sugar-laden drinks may save you some calories, which can eventually lead to weight loss in some instances.
• Drinking tea may be something you do with people you care about, which can provide a familiar or warm feeling for you.
• Drinking this beverage may also help you sleep better at night, as long as there isn’t too much caffeine in the type that you drink.
• A main component of tea, theanine, might be able to keep your mood stable. This is something that is actively being studied in order for science to learn more about how tea can improve your wellbeing.

Other Ways To Calm Down

In addition to trying green tea, there are a few other easy ways that you can try to calm yourself down in situations when you are feeling stressed.

Do Something Relaxing

At times when you find that you are unable to calm down, you may want to do something relaxing. The activities that someone finds relaxing are different for everyone, but in some cases, they may include taking a hot bath, utilizing aromatherapy, or spending time with a pet or loved one. If you can think of things that help you relax, they are worth trying when you are trying to calm yourself down.

Distract Yourself

Another trick you may want to try when you feel distraught is to distract yourself, which can be handled in several different ways. You may choose to read a book, watch a movie, or eat dinner.

Take A Deep Breath

Remember to keep breathing whenever you feel stressed. Take deep breaths and work through what is bothering you when you can. If you feel that you cannot, you may need to do something else to release the tension or feelings that you are experiencing. Just be sure that you are breathing normally and not overexerting yourself.

Talk About It

You can talk to someone you trust about how you are feeling. If you have people that support you when you are experiencing hard times, talk to them when you feel like you need to vent about something in order to be able to unwind. You may also choose to talk to a therapist about your problems. If you do, they might be able to provide you with ideas and techniques about how to work through what is keeping you from being calm.

Exercise

Getting your body moving can also provide relief when you need to calm your body and mind. Just be sure that you aren’t trying to exercise before bed, since this might keep you up all night or cause you to be unable to sleep. On the other hand, exercising may give you a chance to clear your mind so you can work through what is upsetting you. It can also help you burn off excess energy, which will hopefully allow you to relax after you are done.

About the Author

Marie Miguel

Marie Miguel has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health-related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with BetterHelp.com. With an interest in and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression.

FAQs about Whether Green Tea Calms You Down

Does green tea actually calm you down, despite the caffeine? Why is green tea calming but coffee tends to make me anxious? How long do I need to drink green tea regularly before noticing the calming effect? Should I avoid green tea if I have anxiety, despite its calming effects? Can the calming effect of green tea help me sleep?

Does green tea actually calm you down, despite the caffeine?

Yes, paradoxically — and the L-theanine is the reason. L-theanine increases alpha brain wave activity (the calm-but-alert state) and modestly elevates GABA (the brain's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter). Both effects produce real sedation-like calming despite the caffeine in the same cup. EEG studies confirm this is brain-state shift, not just placebo. The gyokuro delivers the highest L-theanine concentrations, with matcha close behind.

So a typical cup of green tea produces a state that's both alert (caffeine) and calm (L-theanine). This is distinctly different from coffee's pure caffeine alertness, which can feel jittery or anxious. The combination is what makes green tea uniquely useful for stress reduction without sedation.

Most people notice the calming effect within 30-60 minutes of finishing a cup, with the effect lasting 2-3 hours before tapering. The L-theanine and caffeine peaks roughly align, which is why the combination feels balanced rather than sequential.

Gyokuro - Shaded Imperial Premium Green Tea From $60.00 /

Why is green tea calming but coffee tends to make me anxious?

Coffee delivers concentrated caffeine without significant L-theanine. The body responds to pure caffeine with sympathetic-nervous-system activation — alertness comes with elevated heart rate, slight blood-pressure rise, sometimes anxiety or jitteriness depending on individual sensitivity. The wake-up is sharp; the anxiety is a side effect of the same activation.

Green tea pairs the caffeine with L-theanine in roughly a 1:2 to 1:3 ratio. The L-theanine modulates the caffeine's sympathetic-nervous-system effect to be smoother and shorter — alertness without the anxiety spike. Same caffeine compound, different overall experience because of the L-theanine context.

This is also why decaffeinated coffee doesn't replicate green tea's calming alertness. Removing caffeine reduces the alertness without adding the calm-focus mechanism that L-theanine provides. Decaf coffee is a lower-anxiety version of regular coffee; it's not a green-tea equivalent.

How long do I need to drink green tea regularly before noticing the calming effect?

Acute effect: within 30-60 minutes of any single cup. You don't need sustained intake to feel the calming effect of one cup of high-L-theanine tea — it's measurable from the first session.

Sustained baseline shift: 4-8 weeks of daily consumption produces a measurable change in baseline stress reactivity and anxiety symptoms. Drinkers who've been daily tea drinkers for months tend to report a calmer baseline overall, not just acute calming after each cup.

Track the effect with a brief daily mood/stress journal during the first month. The acute effect is obvious; the baseline shift is subtle and can be missed without tracking. Comparing self-rated stress at week 1 vs week 8 in writing makes the change visible.

Should I avoid green tea if I have anxiety, despite its calming effects?

Mostly no, with caveats. Most people with mild-to-moderate anxiety find green tea helpful rather than harmful — the L-theanine effect outweighs the caffeine concern. Some specific subgroups should be more careful: people with severe anxiety disorders, panic disorder, or caffeine-triggered panic; people on certain anxiety medications where the caffeine interaction matters; people with bipolar disorder where stimulant management is delicate. These cases warrant individualized guidance from a doctor.

If you're caffeine-sensitive, hojicha with its very low caffeine (7-10 mg per cup) gives you most of the L-theanine benefit at much lower caffeine cost. Pure L-theanine supplements without caffeine are also an option — the calm effect without any alertness if that's specifically what you need.

For everyday low-grade anxiety, daily green tea is supportive at minimum and meaningfully helpful for many drinkers. Don't avoid it on general principles; experiment to see how your specific body responds.

Hojicha - Roasted Green Tea $25.00 /

Can the calming effect of green tea help me sleep?

Indirectly, by lowering pre-sleep stress; not directly as a sleep aid. The L-theanine in evening green tea may help with sleep onset by reducing anxiety, but the caffeine works against sleep onset. The two effects partially cancel; net effect is roughly neutral for most people.

For a tea-based sleep support, the right approach is hojicha (very low caffeine, retained L-theanine) consumed 1-2 hours before bed. The L-theanine calms the nervous system without the caffeine pushing against sleep. Many committed evening tea drinkers report better sleep quality with hojicha than with no evening tea.

Don't drink standard sencha or matcha within 4-6 hours of bedtime if sleep matters. Even with L-theanine modulation, the caffeine half-life of 5-6 hours means evening tea has measurable caffeine in your system at midnight. The sleep cost outweighs the relaxation benefit at that timing.

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