To answer the question, “Is green tea good for acid reflux?” really depends on the individual as some people with acid reflux tolerate green tea, but others can’t. Green tea has some amazing health benefits, so it’s a good idea to drink it occasionally if you can.
What Is Acid Reflux?
Acid reflux disease occurs when stomach acid, and sometimes stomach contents, comes back up out of your stomach and into your esophagus or food pipe.
If you feel a burning sensation in your chest when acid reflux occurs, this is heartburn. The burning sensation is stomach acid coming into contact with inflamed tissues in your food pipe.
Symptoms Of Acid Reflux
- burning sensation
- chest pain
- sore throat
- upset stomach
- bitter taste in your mouth
- weight loss
Common Triggers Of Acid Reflux Symptoms
Your lower esophageal sphincter is a band of muscle at the bottom of your food pipe (esophagus). It is supposed to stop stomach acid and stomach contents from refluxing back into your food pipe.
But acid reflux occurs when your lower esophageal sphincter is loose, or something puts pressure on your stomach. Here are some reasons why this happens:
- eating too much
- acidic foods
- high-fat foods
- citrus fruits and citrus fruit juices
- alcoholic beverages
- energy drinks
- carbonated drinks
- caffeinated beverages
- smoking
- obesity
- tight clothing or belt around your stomach
If chronic acid reflux is left untreated, it can become gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett’s esophagus, and in rare cases, esophageal cancer.
LEARN MORE: Acid Reflux Foods To Avoid: Best Substitutes For Fast Results
What Is Green Tea?
Like black tea, green tea comes from the Camellia Sinensis plant, an evergreen shrub. But instead of drying the leaves to create a darker leaf and intense flavor as is done for black tea, freshly picked leaves are steamed then dried to make green tea.
Green tea has a neutral pH level, just like water, and some people with acid reflux drink green tea without any harmful side effects. However, green tea increases stomach acid production and may worsen symptoms of acid reflux.
Green tea has some amazing health benefits, so if your stomach can tolerate it, it’s a good idea to drink a cup occasionally.
Why is Green Tea Good For Acid Reflux?
Green tea has some health benefits which can help your acid reflux symptoms, but only if the caffeine doesn’t cause problems for you.
Aids Weight Loss
Many overweight people with acid reflux can relieve their symptoms by losing weight, which eases pressure on your stomach. Green tea and green tea extracts contain substances that boost your metabolic rate and help you burn calories. Green tea extracts can also help prevent regaining weight (1).
Antibacterial And Anti-inflammatory Properties
Drinking green tea can help with gastritis, H. pylori bacteria, and inflammation in your digestive system, commonly associated with acid reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease (2).
Soothes and relaxes muscles
Drinking warm water expands blood vessels in your stomach, improving circulation, relaxing muscles, and reducing pain. This is why some people like to drink a cup of tea to relax.
Stress has a direct impact on your digestive system. If you are stressed, the muscles in your digestive tract tense up and spasm, and this can cause diarrhea, constipation, bloating, or gas (3).
Aids digestion
Warm water aids digestion by keeping food moving through your digestive system and helps constipation and gas.
Other Health Benefits Of Green Tea
Green tea contains antioxidants that protect your cells from free radicals, which may cause a variety of diseases such as:
- cancer
- diabetes
- cardiovascular disease
- neurodegenerative diseases (4)
Brewing your cup of green tea in hot water will extract more antioxidants from the tea than cold water (5). Be sure to wait until your cup of tea cools to prevent burns and scalds.
Side Effects Of Green Tea For Acid Reflux
Although there are some amazing health benefits associated with drinking green tea, it’s not a good choice for everyone. If you have mild symptoms of acid reflux, you may be able to drink a cup of green tea without side effects. But if you have chronic acid reflux, it’s unlikely you can do so.
Green tea is associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
A Japanese study found that drinking green tea every day was a significant factor in gastroesophageal reflux disease and GERD symptoms such as acid reflux (6). Therefore, drinking green tea occasionally rather than every day may be the best option.
It’s A Caffeinated Beverage
Green tea contains about half the caffeine of black tea. Caffeinated beverages increase stomach acid and relax your lower esophageal sphincter muscle, which aggravates symptoms of acid reflux. On the positive side, green tea has the lowest tannins of all true teas. Tannins contribute to stomach acidity.
Beware Of Bottled Green Tea
Many commercial bottled green teas have higher acidity than freshly brewed green tea. This is due to acidity regulators, preservatives, and sometimes sugar added to the bottled variety. It’s best to avoid commercially made green tea as it can worsen your acid reflux symptoms.
Best Teas For Acid Reflux
The following are some of the best herbal teas for relieving acid reflux symptoms. Different types of tea can help in different ways. It’s a good idea to find a tea that will help improve your personal heartburn symptoms.
Ginger Tea
A cup of ginger tea, made from ginger root, is one of the best teas for acid reflux. Its anti-inflammatory properties have a calming effect on your digestive system and antioxidants that relieve irritation caused by stomach acid.
Ginger tea speeds up the digestive process and helps reduce stomach acid, gas, and bloating.
LEARN MORE: What Makes Ginger Tea One Of The Best Teas For Acid Reflux?
Chamomile Tea
The anti-inflammatory properties of chamomile tea help promote a healthy digestive system, making it another good choice for relieving GERD symptoms. Chamomile tea contains substances that soothe the lining of your esophagus or food pipe.
A cup of chamomile tea relaxes muscles, soothes an upset stomach, and has a calming effect on stress levels, which are essential for relieving symptoms of acid reflux. Chamomile tea can also help a sore throat and stomach ulcers.
Also, chamomile tea can reduce stomach acid as effectively as antacids.
LEARN MORE: Is Chamomile Tea Good For Acid Reflux? Is There Any Better?
Marshmallow Root Tea
Marshmallow root tea contains antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties, and coats the digestive tract and stomach lining, preventing stomach acid from giving you a burning sensation in your chest.
Holy Basil Tea
Holy basil or tulsi tea reduces stomach acid and increases mucus secretion, which creates a barrier to protect your digestive system from gastric acid secretion.
This herbal tea also has antiviral, anti-fungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Holy basil tea also helps reduce stress which can worsen acid reflux symptoms.
Lemon Tea
Lemon tea in its purest form is simply one tablespoon of lemon juice in a cup of warm water. Despite being an acidic fruit juice, lemon tea is beneficial for many acid reflux sufferers as it neutralizes stomach acid.
The heat of the water causes some Vitamin C loss, given Vitamin C in lemon juice is destroyed by heat, but the warm water in lemon tea aids digestion, prevents bloating and gas, helps relax stomach muscles, and can aid weight loss.
Some people like to add lemon juice to black tea. Black tea has drawbacks for some people with heartburn symptoms.
If you have chronic acid reflux, you may not tolerate lemon tea. You’ll have to try it to be sure.
LEARN MORE: Is Lemon Tea Good For Acid Reflux? (How To Get Best Results)
Worst Teas For Acid Reflux
Caffeinated beverages are among the worst for acid reflux. If you don’t have chronic acid reflux, you may be able to drink these teas without any side effects.
Black Tea
Black tea is also called true tea because it comes from the Camellia Sinensis plant. It contains caffeine and tannins, which can worsen acid reflux symptoms. Black tea has a reasonably high caffeine content but has about half the caffeine content of coffee. If your acid reflux symptoms are mild, you may be able to enjoy a cup of tea.
Caffeine increases gastric acid secretion and relaxes your lower esophageal sphincter muscle. Tannins increase acidity in your digestive system as well.
Oolong Tea
Oolong tea is a great digestive aid if you’re not sensitive to caffeine; however, many acid reflux sufferers are. The caffeine intake in oolong tea is about halfway between green tea and black tea. If green tea doesn’t set off your acid reflux symptoms, then it might be worth giving oolong tea a try.
Oolong tea contains tannins which increase gastric acid secretion, but not as much as black tea.
Oolong tea neutralizes acid in your digestive system and has anti-inflammatory properties. This herbal tea is mildly antiseptic and can reduce harmful bacteria such as helicobacter pylori in your stomach.
Peppermint Tea
Peppermint tea is known to aid digestion, but if you suffer from symptoms of acid reflux, this herbal tea is probably not for you. A cup of peppermint tea loosens your lower esophageal sphincter, making it more likely that stomach acid will reflux back up into your esophagus.
Best Milk For Green Tea If You Have Acid Reflux
Some people like to add milk to green tea to mask the bitter flavor. You can add milk to green tea, but it will affect the health benefits.
The protein and fat in whole milk or cow’s milk reduce the antioxidant effects responsible for repairing damaged tissues and cells in your body. Fat-free milk will also reduce the health benefits of green tea, but not as much.
Almond milk or soy milk are the best options to maximize the health benefits as they have less saturated fat and have a different type of protein that doesn’t affect antioxidants in green tea.
FAQs About “Is Green Tea Good For Acid Reflux?”
Is Green Tea Good For Acid Reflux Disease?
Green tea may be good for acid reflux disease in some people. Green tea has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, contains antioxidants, and relaxes muscles, all of which can help acid reflux symptoms. However, green tea also contains caffeine which increases stomach acid and loosens your lower esophageal reflux sphincter, worsening acid reflux symptoms. The only way to know if green tea is good for you is to try it.
Is Lemon And Green Tea Good For Acid Reflux?
Adding a tablespoon of lemon to your cup of green tea is good for acid reflux if you can tolerate it. The acid in lemon juice is ascorbic acid or Vitamin C, which is destroyed by heat. Therefore lemon will be less acidic if added to a hot drink. Compounds in lemon rind assist with weight loss and improve insulin resistance in animal studies (7). So add some grated lemon zest to your cup of tea.
Is Ginger And Green Tea Good For Acid Reflux?
Ginger and green tea is good for acid reflux if your body can tolerate green tea. Ginger is a traditional Chinese remedy for digestive tract problems, and green tea has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and relaxes your stomach muscles. However, green tea contains caffeine, but not as much as coffee or black tea. Caffeine increases stomach acid and loosens your lower esophageal sphincter, which can cause acid reflux.
Is Honey And Green Tea Good For Acid Reflux?
A cup of honey and green tea is good for acid reflux in some people; however, green tea may cause problems due to its caffeine content. Caffeine increases stomach acidity and loosens your lower esophageal sphincter, which can cause acid reflux symptoms. A teaspoon of honey, particularly manuka honey, is a great way to add a little sweetness and has antibacterial properties that soothe a sore throat and improve digestion.
Other Home Remedies For Acid Reflux Symptoms
Improving your diet will go a long way to cure your acid reflux symptoms for most acid reflux sufferers. Eating small frequent meals rather than large meals will help prevent acid reflux.
The best foods to include in your diet include:
- whole grains such as brown rice and quinoa
- plenty of vegetables
- low-acid fruits such as melons and papaya
- fat-free milk and other no fat or low fat dairy products such as low-fat yogurt
- lean proteins such as chicken breast and white fish
- small amounts of healthy fats such as avocado and olive oil
LEARN MORE: Best Alkaline Foods For Hyperacidity And Quick Reflux Relief
Summary: Is Green Tea Good For Acid Reflux?
The question, “Is green tea good for acid reflux?” really depends on the individual as some people with acid reflux tolerate green tea, but others can’t. Green tea has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, contains antioxidants, and relaxes muscles, all of which can help acid reflux symptoms.
However, green tea also contains caffeine which increases stomach acid and loosens your lower esophageal reflux sphincter, worsening acid reflux symptoms. The only way to know if green tea is good for your acid reflux is to try it. And if you find you can drink green tea, it’s not a good idea to not drink it every day.
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