Healthy Teas that Give You Energy and Mental Clarity
Disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.

Healthy Teas that Give You Energy and Mental Clarity



healthy green tea

Drinking tea is a great break from coffee and even though most tea contains caffeine, these teas will give you mental and physical energy without the jitters that you can get from coffee.

If you're tired of coffee but still want that physical and mental boost, the following teas will give you energy and health benefits.

Coffee with its strong caffeine content will, of course, give you energy but it also gives you jitters, maybe heart palpitations and that worn out and dragged down feeling when the caffeine wears off. There are teas that can give you energy, wake up the mind, help you concentrate and are actually very healthy for you.

Is there any type of tea that helps with mental clarity? There are several types of tea that will give you mental energy and mental clarity. The best thing about these teas is that you might not get that crash you normally get from coffee.

Matcha Tea For Mental Energy


Matcha tea is a green tea that has been finely ground into a powder. When you make and drink matcha tea, you are actually drinking the leaves. Matcha tea has been a part of Japanese tea ceremonies for over 900 years. Buddhist monks were known to drink this tea to heighten their concentration and relaxation at the same time.

Matcha Green Tea has many health benefits such as having more antioxidants than any other green tea and is a good source of vitamin B-complex and vitamins E, C, A, and K. In addition, this tea has the amino acids L-theanine and theophylline. Matcha tea boosts the immune system, is good for the heart and detoxifies the body.

In addition to these wonderful health benefits, matcha tea will give you energy without the caffeine jitters. In fact, because of the L-theanine, this tea will give you energy with a calming effect, even though the caffeine amount in a cup of matcha is similar to a cup of coffee.

Matcha tea is also popular and mixed into smoothies, in ice cream and used in baking. When you look for matcha tea, you will sometimes see different types of matcha tea. 
 
Ceremony is the highest quality of matcha tea. When the tea is labeled culinary, that means it is the best type to bake with. You will also see first and sometimes second harvest on the label. 
 
First harvest teas are the high-end teas and the most expensive, while the second harvest is smoother and lighter and has more of the healthful nutrients.

Beware of some packaged matcha tea, as it becomes more popular, some companies are labeling plain powered green tea as matcha and some are adding a lot of sugar to their product.

Whisking matcha tea
Whisking matcha tea into a froth / source


Green Tea for Energy and Mental Clarity



Green tea has many of the same health benefits of matcha tea, just not in the same concentration as a cup of matcha tea, and green tea will also give you healthy energy. 
 
Matcha tea takes some preparation to make and if you are in a hurry, just making a cup of green tea is quick and healthy. You will find that regular green tea is cheaper than matcha green tea.

Green tea plantation
Green tea plantation in South Korea / source

L-Theanine in Your Tea



L-theanine is an amino acid that is normally found in tea, but in low doses. L-Theanine is considered a nootropic, also known as brain boosters that can enhance cognitive ability, mental energy, mood, memory, and focus. All of these wonderful benefits also provide relaxed energy and no jitters. L-theanine can take away the caffeine jitters when mixed with tea or coffee.

Vanilla Energy Spice from Yogi is a wonderful tea that adds L-theanine and green tea along with other mental energy boosters and plus adaptogens that can also combat stress like ashwagandha, shatavari root, shankhpushpi leaf, ginger root, and rooibos leaf.

This tea is perfect to get you going in the morning or for that time in the afternoon where you need a physical and mental boost without having to reach for coffee.


Caffeine Free Energy with Ginseng Tea



If you want energy from a tea without caffeine, many of the ginseng teas can provide healthier energy than a cup of coffee. There are two main types of ginseng, Asian or Korean Panax ginseng and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and they both have health benefits, but Korean ginseng is what gives you energy and mental clarity.


Some of the health benefits of Korean Panax ginseng include increased energy and concentration and relieves menstrual cramps, combating stress, boost the immune system and some studies found that Korean ginseng can help with sexual dysfunction. In addition to these health benefits, ginseng also protects against certain neurodegenerative disease and fight cancer.


Yerba Mate


Yerba Mate 
is a beverage from South America that is made from the leaves of the Yerba Mate tree and is, in fact, the national drink of Argentina. This beverage will give you energy, mental clarity along with many health benefits.


Yerba Mate does contain caffeine but will not give you the caffeine jitters and caffeine crash like coffee does. Yerba Mate contains many of the same phytochemicals as green and black tea does and is a great source of antioxidants.


In addition, Yerba Mate also contains a good source of Saponins, which are similar to phytochemicals, which can stimulate your immune system and ward off disease. 
 
Yerba Mate is also a good source of vitamins A, C, E and all of the B vitamins, plus minerals like magnesium, calcium, manganese, selenium, potassium, iron and phosphorus. If that wasn’t enough, it also contains 15 amino acids. A few studies have found Yerba Mate to actually destroy colon cancer cells.


Many Indian tribes of South America have been using it for centuries for boosting immunity, cleansing and detoxifying the blood, to ward off fatigue and stimulate the mind among other health benefits.


It is easy to make and is the perfect replacement for that cup of coffee in the afternoon.

yerba mate tree
Yerba Mate plant in the wild / source


Siberian Ginseng - Eleuthero



Eleuthero or Siberian ginseng is not a part of the ginseng family and is completely different than Korean or American ginseng. Eleuthero also has many health benefits in addition to giving you energy. Eleuthero can help manage osteoarthritis, reduce high cholesterol and fight off colds.


Eleuthero is an adaptogen, which is a class of herbs that can help you deal with stress and many health problems including Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, high blood pressure, and many other health issues.


Eleuthero is also known to reduce fatigue and help with concentration. It has been used to increase stamina and endurance in Soviet athletes and stressful jobs to prevent stress-related illnesses. Eleuthero has been shown to enhance mental acuity and physical endurance without the letdown that happens with caffeine.


For more about Eleuthero, you can read about it at the University of Michigan website. Also, check with your doctor before using Eleuthero if you have any type of hormone cancers, a history of mental illness, heart disease or sleep apnea. Also, check with your doctor if you are pregnant or breast-feeding.

About the Author

Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Forum Health Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Sam Montana © 2016-2022

Teas for energy and mental clarity