Choose a natural tea to relax in the evening and sleep better. Find out how to optimize the relaxing and calming properties of tea.
Asian tea is one of the most consumed drinks in the world. There is a multitude of flavors depending on the species of the tea plant. They are also given different medicinal virtues.
Among the many benefits of tea: helps digestion, controls appetite, strengthens the body’s defenses, drainage, anti-aging, its relaxing properties are a natural, healthy, and effective way to relax in the evening before bedtime.
Of course, for the evening, you can always opt for an infusion or herbal tea, known for its soothing properties, based on plants that help you fall asleep like chamomile or verbena. But here, we will favor evening teas to sleep well.
First of all, making a habit like taking the time to indulge yourself for a while over a good hot cup of tea is already a way to relax and prepare for a good night’s sleep. The tea has a vasodilator effect which facilitates this relaxation.
To choose the right tea for your ritual, it is important to understand the effects of theine on your body.
Understanding the effects of theine on your body
All teas are made from the same plant; the tea plant (Camellia Sinensis). Then, it is the manufacturing method that differentiates them. Black tea is fermented, while green tea is just dried, and white tea involves harvesting dried buds early in the season. Depending on the type of tea and tea, you will not find the same theine content.
Theine in tea has arousing properties just like caffeine (it’s the same molecule). Although its effects are less powerful than coffee: slower and less lasting, tea also stimulates the nervous system and can cause insomnia and prevent you from sleeping.
So, if theine is great for boosting your focus in the morning or after lunch, it’s best to try cutting down on your intake in the evening before going to bed.
Reduce theine intake to maximize the relaxing benefits of tea
Hot teas drunk in the evening are not necessarily enemies of sleep, the important thing is to respect a few essential principles:
The color of tea: The first principle is to choose teas that are lighter and clearer as the day goes on. As the day progresses, the tea leaves you drink should thin out.
We start with an energizing black tea in the morning. This one is the richest in theine in addition to being generally very greedy, it is ideal to start the day on the right foot.
Then we will drink green tea in the middle of the day. It has certain undeniable benefits that will contribute to your well-being throughout the day. It is a natural remedy that helps improve transit and better digestion after a heavy dinner. This will limit the effects of post-meal fatigue and can continue to concentrate without getting too excited or nervous. With its anti-aging virtues, it acts on cell regeneration. It also helps burn calories and melt stored fat by mobilizing energy stores. It is also relaxing, allowing a state of calm and relaxation without drowsiness. These benefits can be increased when the tea is taken in the evening before bedtime. In this case, your tea will need to be reheated.
For the evening, white tea is ideal. He is the one with the least theine. It can also be consumed throughout the day without the risk of overly stimulating effects. It is the best for your health because it is not oxidized.
In general, it is recommended to drink 3 to 5 cups of tea per day to limit the side effects of theine as well as caffeine: nervousness, stress, restlessness, insomnia, diarrhea… This can be adapted. depending on the degree of theine contained in the teas consumed.
As with green tea, if you cannot do without a particular species of tea, you can drink it in the evening as long as you define it.
Decorate your tea: The theine from the leaves is the first component to be released in hot water. It is therefore sufficient to rinse the leaves with the first infusion of simmering water that is thrown after about thirty seconds to extract the caffeine from the tea they contain. This minimizes the arousing effects of the tea. And the second infusion will therefore be less rich in theine while retaining its flavor.
Low theine teas: To be able to fall asleep quickly and avoid insomnia while enjoying a good tea after dinner, choose teas that are low in theine like Oolongs, Ceylon green teas, mint teas (also good for digestion), Bancha teas, Lapsang Souchong or Gyokuros teas. These teas naturally have little theine in their compositions.
Blended teas can also be an effective natural solution for relaxation depending on the flowers, plants, and fruits that accompany them. Avoid mixtures with energizing plants such as ginger, ginseng, guarana, mate, or even rose hips and acerola berries. And choose sedative and calming herbal mixtures such as chamomile, sage, lemon balm, passionflower, hawthorn, linden, vetiver, verbena, valerian, lavender, hops.
Red tea: Despite the trick of throwing in the first brewed water, there is still caffeine left in black, green, and white teas.
If you don’t want to worry about the theine in tea anymore, you can fall back on inhaled teas. These are natural teas industrially depleted in theine.
There is also a tea without theine, perfect for the evening: red tea, Rooibos or Rooithé. Sometimes considered an infusion, this tea from South Africa arouses interest thanks to its antioxidant properties and its lack of caffeine. It’s also low in tannins, the substance that gives tea that hardness that not everyone likes.
