Can decaffeinating my green tea weaken it?
January 28th, 2009 . by adminGreen tea contains nearly as much caffeine as the average coffee. decaf green tea can be beneficial as long as the decaffeination process is so severe as to destroy the healthful ingredients.
The super hero of ingredients in green tea is called EGCG. That is short for Epigallo-catechin-gallate, or more commonly called catechin.
If this ingredient is weakened substantially or destroyed by the decaffeination process, the purpose of drinking the green tea in the first place is lost.
There are processes that can safely remove most of the caffeine from teas. One method that seems to do the job safely involves a CO-2 (effervescence) and spring water. This method seems to be far safer than others. Whatever way is used to remove the caffeine keep in mind that it will not entirely be eliminated. Some will always be left behind.