Skip to content 
Calming Tea: The Power of Overcoming Stress
Picture yourself sitting in a comfortable chair or space within nature near a small trickling spring or in a quiet relaxing environment. You have Guqin music in the background. Maybe you are surrounded by candles in the evening or some burning incense. Perhaps it’s a nice spring day and you feel the wind softly blowing through the open windows, smelling dew roll off the meadows.
Then you take out your tea set and start boiling a kettle of water. You brew your first pitcher of tea. You can smell its aroma permeate the room, leaving a sublime freshness in the air. Then you take the first sip. Then another and another of your favorite Purcraftea tea. Immediately your mind feels at ease, a calming effect whooshes into your entire body. Why does this happen? What’s the Science behind these natural chemical reactions?
Historical and Traditional Use of Tea
Using calming tea traces back to China, 4,700 years ago, where it was integrated as a beverage into tradition Chinese medicine. There is a deep belief all over the world, and most evident in Asia that tea has multiple wellness benefits. And they would be right.
In Traditional Chinese media, tea was seen as a way to balance the body’s Qi (a person’s life force or energy), or maintaining harmony. In tea ceremonies, one was encouraged to emphasize mindfulness, patience, and attentiveness. The tea ceremony forced people to slow down, focus on the present moment, and engage the senses. This ritual was created by Chinese philosophy to be ritualistic in itself.
In philosophy, tea drinking was connected to Daoism and Zen Buddhism as a way to achieve mental clarity and a meditative state. To this day practitioners are achieving a state of inner peace, aligning with Daoist pursuit of harmony with nature. For some however, life feels very different from this state of mind.
Modern Stress on the World
Jump forward to today’s modern fast paced world. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans reported some form of anxiety in 2022 claimed researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They literally feel their head spinning most of the time. Young people (ages 18-29) said they had struggled with some form of anxiety over the past two weeks, compared to 21% of those aged 30 to 44, and 16% for those aged 45 to 64.
This presents an opportunity for tea companies to offer products that balance caffeine with relaxation , addressing the need for mental clarity in today’s demanding and high pressure world, while also alleviating stress. Is there a compound found in tea that may help provide this solution and what are the effects of calming tea?
Active Ingredients Found in Calming Tea for Managing Stress
Modern studies provide substantial evidence supporting the health benefits of both black and green teas, but in this post we’ll be focusing mainly on green tea, which is a category for Raw Puerh as well. Antioxidants are the active key ingredient in tea, but there remains concentration level distinctions in different types of tea.
The active ingredients found in tea are Catechins (Polyphenols) and Theanine (Amino Acids)
- Catechins (Polyphenols): While all teas contain antioxidants, catachins are more abundant in green tea or white tea compared to other tea, helping to neutralize harmful free radicals in the body and protect cells from oxidative stress.
- Theanine (Amino Acids): Are the compounds known for promoting relaxation and reducing stress. L-theanine works together with caffeine in tea to improve cognitive focus, calming tea focuses the mind without causing jitteriness. It can therefore enhance one’s creative abilities. Theanine will be the focus of this article in discovering more about calming tea reasons.
Health Benefits of L-Theanine
- Based on Random Controlled Trials of oral supplmentation of L-theanine, theanine can effectly be used as a supplement on anxiety and stress levels. This study also lists several potential health benefits including:
- improvements in mood
- improvements in cognition
- reduction in stress and anxiety like symptoms
Neuroprotective Properties of Catechins and Theanin
This study highlights the neuroprotective effects of theanine and catechins suggesting that these substances may help protect neurons and prevent cell damage in the brain, which can be linked to stress-related damage and diseases.
These effects support the idea of calming tea—through its active compounds—could have stress-reducing and neuroprotective benefits, particularly in protecting against diseases linked to oxidative damage and poor brain circulation.
However Further research is needed to fully understand the molecular pathways involved and to confirm the long-term benefits of theanine and catechins in preventing brain and cardiovascular damage. It is strongly advised to consult your doctor in these matters, and do not substitute tea for your medicine.
Final Thoughts...
There are significant mental health challenges faced all over the world by people including financial, health, and political concerns. Therefore there is also a strong desire for simple, accessible stress-relief methods. As stress levels rise, teas that promote relaxation, calming tea with or without added herbs, and mindfulness practices like yoga and meditation are gaining traction, especially among people looking for holistic solutions to mental health. Taken in moderate quantities, teas from the Purcraftea shop can help people achieve relaxation mindfulness and wellness.
For more information on other health benefits from drinking tea check out our previous blog post: 7 Benefits of Adding Puerh Tea to Your Diet
