How Much Green Tea?

You've been extolling your wisdom on the benefits of green tea, but I'm unsure how much green tea you actually have to drink for it to make a difference. I've heard as much as 10 cups a day which sounds crazy!
Thanks so much!

– Green Tea Gina


This a great question because green tea is amazing. I feel fortunate that I do like the taste so drinking a cup or two a day is no problem for me. This is good since both Dr. Zuo Feng Zhang, a cancer epidemiology researcher at UCLA, and the University of Maryland Medical Center recommend two to three teacups (not mugs) a day will prove beneficial to your health.

To see what drinking five cups of green tea a day can do for you read more.

However, drinking up to five cups a day has been shown to decrease risk for stomach cancer. For weight loss and to boost your metabolism, the best results have been seen with drinking seven cups a day (this was studied in mice though and has yet to be studied directly on humans). Additionally many other medical studies have shown the the more green tea consumed daily the greater the benefits, with 10 cups being the upper limit. If you are sensitive to caffeine, or suffer from insomnia, 10 cups of green tea is probably going to be too much for your system, regardless of the benefits.

There are a few negative consequences to drinking lots and lots of green tea. The tannins found in both green and black tea can decrease absorption of folic acid, an important vitamin that helps decrease birth defects. If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, you should definitely limit your green tea consumption to two cups a day, or skip it all together. Green tea can also interfere with the absorption of iron, too, so it is recommended that you avoid drinking green tea with meals and just drink it between them.