Why Do You Get Tea Drunk? Causes & Quick Relief Tips

According to research from Verywell Health, people with genetic caffeine sensitivity can experience anxiety, insomnia, and rapid heartbeat even from small amounts of tea. However, tea intoxication isn't just about genetics - it's often caused by improper brewing and drinking habits.

Dizziness, nausea, and trembling from tea typically stem from drinking on an empty stomach, brewing too strong, or letting tea steep too long. These simple mistakes can significantly impact your tea-drinking experience.

To enjoy tea safely: eat lightly before drinking, brew weaker concentrations, and choose herbal teas if you're caffeine-sensitive. These small adjustments will transform tea from an "uncomfortable beverage" into your "ideal relaxation companion." Let's explore the details with CHUS!

Tea drunk is a common phenomenon affecting many tea drinkers

What Is Tea Drunk?

Tea drunk refers to uncomfortable symptoms like dizziness, nausea, and trembling caused by drinking too much tea or consuming overly concentrated tea. This condition is different from alcohol intoxication but can be equally disruptive to your daily activities.

Signs of Tea Drunk

Tea drunk commonly occurs when you drink excessive amounts of tea, especially strong or freshly picked varieties. Here are the most common signs of being tea drunk:

• Dizziness and lightheadedness: This is the most prevalent symptom of tea drunk. High caffeine levels in tea stimulate the central nervous system, causing dizziness, visual disturbances, and even loss of balance.
• Nausea and vomiting: Caffeine also stimulates the digestive system, leading to nausea and vomiting episodes when you're tea drunk.
• Trembling: Due to caffeine's effects on the nervous system, you may experience shaking in your hands, feet, or throughout your body during tea drunk episodes.
• Anxiety and restlessness: Caffeine can trigger feelings of anxiety, restlessness, and difficulty concentrating as part of tea drunk symptoms.
• Insomnia: Drinking tea, especially green tea in the evening, can cause sleep difficulties due to caffeine's stimulating effects, contributing to tea drunk conditions.

Common signs experienced during tea drunk episodes

>>> Read more: How Many Infusions Can You Get from Tea? Tips for Brewing the Perfect Cup

Causes of Tea Drunk

1. Drinking Too Much or Too Strong Tea

This is the most common cause of tea drunk. Tea contains caffeine, theanine, and catechins—substances that stimulate the central nervous system and stomach. Excessive tea consumption triggers tea drunk symptoms like nausea, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, and hand tremors.

Moreover, according to Verywell Health research: People with genetic caffeine sensitivity (slow CYP1A2 enzyme that breaks down caffeine or ADORA2A variants) easily experience tea drunk symptoms like anxiety, insomnia, and rapid heartbeat even with minimal consumption.

2. Drinking Tea on an Empty Stomach

This allows tea's stimulating compounds to be easily absorbed into the body, leading to tea drunk. Therefore, you should eat lightly before or after drinking tea to avoid this condition.

Giang (25, Hanoi) shares: "Usually I eat breakfast, then drink tea and start work. However, a few times when I didn't have time for breakfast and drank tea immediately, I clearly felt dizzy and short of breath. I only later realized this was tea drunk, not hunger."

Common causes leading to tea drunk experiences

3. Drinking Tea Unsuitable for Your Constitution

Some people have constitutions sensitive to caffeine, theanine, or catechins, making them more prone to tea drunk than average. If you belong to this group, limit tea consumption or choose varieties with lower caffeine content to prevent tea drunk.

4. Drinking Tea in the Evening

Caffeine in tea can affect sleep patterns and contribute to tea drunk symptoms. Therefore, avoid drinking tea in the evening, especially before bedtime.

5. Drinking Long-Steeped Tea

Tea steeped for extended periods easily oxidizes, producing harmful substances that can cause tea drunk. Drink tea immediately after brewing or store it refrigerated to maintain optimal flavor and quality while preventing tea drunk.

>>> Read more: Is It Ok To Make Coffee With Cold Water?

How to Drink Tea Without Getting Tea Drunk

• Eat before drinking or consume with light snacks: Avoid drinking on an empty stomach to reduce rapid caffeine and tannin absorption, protect the digestive tract, and limit tea drunk symptoms like anxiety and dizziness.
• Choose herbal teas: These contain no caffeine or very little, making them suitable for sensitive individuals or those seeking relaxation without risk of tea drunk.
• Don't brew strong tea (brew lighter and reduce steeping time): Strong, long-steeped tea increases caffeine content, causing rapid heartbeat and insomnia that contribute to tea drunk.
• Don't let tea sit too long: Long-steeped tea easily oxidizes, increasing tannins and caffeine with continued consumption, raising risks of stomach and nervous system irritation that lead to tea drunk. Use within 1-2 hours after brewing.

Applying these tips correctly helps you enjoy tea safely while fully experiencing its health benefits without experiencing tea drunk.

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Drinking tea properly ensures alertness without tea drunk discomfort

What to Do When Experiencing Tea Drunk

When experiencing tea drunk, you can apply these remedies:

• Drink plenty of water: Pure water helps cleanse the body, eliminate harmful substances, and replace fluids lost through nausea or diarrhea during tea drunk episodes. Coconut water or fruit juices are also good choices for supplementing vitamins and minerals.
• Eat lightly: Choose easily digestible foods like bread, porridge, or soup to stabilize the stomach and reduce nausea from tea drunk. Avoid spicy, oily, or sweet foods as these can worsen tea drunk symptoms.
• Massage acupressure points: Gentle massage of acupressure points like Taiyang, Yintang, and Hegu can help reduce headache, dizziness, and nausea symptoms associated with tea drunk.
• Use medication: In cases of severe tea drunk symptoms that cannot be remedied by the above methods, you may use headache or anti-nausea medications following doctor or pharmacist guidance.

Who Should Avoid Tea?

Tea is generally considered a healthy beverage. However, improper tea consumption can lead to serious consequences and increase susceptibility to tea drunk. Here are cases requiring absolute tea avoidance:

1. During a High Fever

Caffeine in tea has stimulating effects, increasing body temperature and worsening high fever conditions. This can also increase the risk of tea drunk symptoms during illness.

2. People with Nervous System Weakness

Drinking tea in the afternoon or evening while suffering from nervous system weakness is taboo. Caffeine in tea keeps you alert and prevents sleep, leading to sleep disorders and potentially triggering tea drunk symptoms that worsen weakness conditions.

3. People with Liver Disease

For those with liver conditions, excessive tea consumption can cause serious effects and increase tea drunk susceptibility. Tannins in tea can reduce the body's iron absorption capacity, affecting blood production while putting pressure on the liver.

People with liver disease should avoid drinking tea to prevent tea drunk

4. People with Gastric Ulcers

Tea can stimulate the stomach to produce excess acid, worsening inflammation and ulceration. This can also make individuals more prone to tea drunk symptoms.

Does Drinking Too Much Tea Affect Health?

According to research on tea's harmful effects published on Healthline, here are the negative impacts of excessive tea consumption that can lead to tea drunk:

• Sleep disorders: Caffeine in tea increases time to fall asleep and reduces sleep quality when consuming more than 3-4 cups daily, potentially triggering tea drunk symptoms.
• Anxiety, palpitations, rapid heartbeat: High caffeine content can stimulate nerves, leading to tension, irregular heartbeat, and chest pounding—classic tea drunk symptoms.
• Headaches and digestive disorders: Excessive consumption can cause headaches, nausea, and stomach pain due to IBD reactions from caffeine and tannins, contributing to tea drunk.
• Reduced iron absorption: Tannins bind with iron, reducing absorption and potentially leading to anemia with excessive tea consumption and repeated tea drunk episodes.
• Night urination, sleep interruption: Drinking strong tea, especially near bedtime, can cause frequent awakening for urination, reducing sleep quality and increasing tea drunk susceptibility.

Conclusion

These insights cover the topic of tea drunk phenomena. Hopefully, this article has provided you with useful information about preventing and managing tea drunk. If you are looking for a reputable address that offers high-quality Vietnamese tea products, serving diverse needs – don't hesitate to visit CHUS's Tea & Herbal Tea category!

FAQs

• What is tea intoxication and what causes it?
  Tea intoxication refers to uncomfortable symptoms from consuming too much tea or high-caffeine tea. Main causes include: drinking strong tea on an empty stomach, excessive caffeine intake (over 400mg daily), consuming tea too hot or quickly, and body sensitivity to tannins in tea leaves.
• Is tea intoxication life-threatening?
  Tea intoxication is typically not fatal but can cause severe discomfort. Symptoms include rapid heartbeat, hand tremors, nausea, headaches, and insomnia. Only in extremely rare cases with excessive caffeine consumption (over 10g) does it pose serious health risks.
• Which types of tea are least likely to cause intoxication?
  The least intoxicating teas are white tea (15-30mg caffeine per cup), chamomile tea, caffeine-free herbal teas, and light oolong tea. Japanese green tea (20-45mg caffeine) is also gentler than black tea (40-70mg caffeine) or pu-erh tea (30-70mg caffeine).
• How much tea is safe to drink daily without getting intoxicated?
  A safe amount is 3-4 cups of light tea daily (equivalent to 200-300mg caffeine). Drink 1-2 hours away from meals, avoid strong tea in the evening, and adjust based on your body's response. Sensitive individuals should limit to 1-2 cups daily.
• How can you quickly relieve tea intoxication symptoms?
  To relieve tea intoxication: drink plenty of water to dilute caffeine, eat light foods like crackers or bananas, rest in a cool area, avoid more tea or coffee, and consider drinking milk to neutralize tannins. Symptoms typically subside within 2-4 hours.