Green tea is a natural product, and may even be purchased as organically grown. Under normal circumstances, there shouldn’t be any additives added to the tea (if there are, time to switch brands!). While there might not be any serious or problematic side effects with drinking this tea, there are still a couple of issues you should be aware of if you decide to incorporate green tea into your diet.
The first issue that may occur when you begin drinking this tea is that you may require more frequent trips to the restroom. Don’t panic, this is normal— the tea is having a cleansing effect on your body, plus you have increased the amount of fluids that you now consume on a daily basis. As your body adjusts to the increase in fluid intake, your system will naturally cleanse itself and then return to normal. Green tea helps to rid the body of free radicals that can cause cancers, immune system problems, as well as increase your chances of getting colds and the flu.
The other side effect you might have relates to the small amount of caffeine that is present in the tea. If you drink coffee, then you shouldn’t have any problems because you are probably used to the caffeine intake. On the other hand if you are not used to drinking coffee or tea, you may notice that you have trouble sleeping the first week or two after introducing green tea into your diet. You can help your body adjust by not drinking any tea or other caffeine containing beverages for at least eight hours before you plan to go to sleep. Drink your tea in the morning (in place of coffee) or in the afternoon and avoid drinking it in the evening, unless you have a decaffeinated variety. Very rarely is someone very sensitive to caffeine, and if you find that you are just cut back on the amount consumed until you find a balance in the amount that you can drink and still get to sleep at night.
Obviously, the many health benefits of green tea outweigh these two minor side effects. Using a bit of planning and giving you body time to adjust to adding green tea will be a worthwhile and positive change in your daily diet. If you find that you are still having trouble, try a different variety of tea. Change brands, and even types of tea. In fact, white tea has many of the same health benefits (and in some cases, more).