The eye is a delicate yet vital part of the body. Without the eye, you can’t see, feel and perhaps think efficiently. Therefore, keeping the eyes in good shape should be your utmost priority.
Apart from keeping it far from accident, take substances that are rich in vitamin A, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants like Vitamin C and E, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
In this view, you may be wondering if your green tea is good for the eyes since not all tea contains some of these elements that are good for the eye.
Well, green tea is highly rich in antioxidants like Vitamin C and E, lutein, and zeaxanthin. These antioxidants work in synergy to protect the eye from any diseases.
Moreover, the caffeine in green tea can also help to soothe some major imperfections such as dark circles and puffy eyes.
Is drinking green tea good for the eyes?
Based on the experiment conducted some years back by researchers when green tea is consumed, a type of flavonoids called epigallocatechin (EGCG) are absorbed in the retina and cornea, thus protecting the eye against harmful radiation.
Unfortunately, this experiment was conducted using a rat and is yet to be confirmed on a human being.
So, it is difficult to say if drinking green tea will be more effective on the eye since there is no proof as to whether the anti-oxidants in green tea can penetrate or be absorbed by the tissues of the human eye.
However, rather than drinking it, it is suggested you go for another alternative. And this alternative is by placing a green tea bag or mask on your eyes.
What happens when you place a green tea bag on your eyes?
Apart from the comfort, there are huge benefits in placing green tea bags on your eye. They are:
1. Soothe Stye
A stye is one of the painful diseases that affect the eye. It is a bacterial infection and can be cured using an antibiotic.
However, green tea bags have a lot of anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties. This helps alleviate pain while soothing stye.
2. Reduce Puffiness and Inflammation
When you place green tea bags on your eye, flavonoids and tannins are released into it, thereby, reducing puffiness and inflammation of the eyelid.
The caffeine in green tea also reduces puffiness by constricting blood flow in the sensitive part of the eye.
3. Soothe Redness or Sore Eye
If your eye is red or sore, you can place green tea bags on it. Thanks to the inflammatory properties of this tea, it reduces swelling and irritation in your eye.
Other benefit includes:
- Soothe dry eyes
- Relieve pink eyes
- Alleviate rosacea
- Prevent dark circles
- Firms and tightens skin
- Smoothens wrinkles and fine lines
- Eliminates eye bags
How to use green tea bags on the eyes?
There are different ways to use green tea bags on the eyes. Parts of them are the cold and warm compress. The two differs in the following ways:
Types of Disease: When you place a warm green tea bag on your eye, it will help you reduce blepharitis, drain stye, and soothe the dry eye.
While placing a cold green tea bag on your eye will help you reduce dark circles under your eye, soothe the red and pink eye, and relieve minor injury.
Method of Preparation: While the cold compress requires refrigerating, the warm doesn’t require refrigerating. If you are going for a warm compress, all you need to do is allow the tea bag to cool slightly after preparation.
Meanwhile, below are the general procedures to follow when making your green tea bag, be it cold or warm compress.
Steep two green tea bags in hot water- Squeeze the excess liquid out of the teabag
- Allow the tea bag to cool slightly if you want a warm compress or refrigerate if you want a cold compress.
- Close your eye while you place the tea bags on it.
- Repeat the procedures several times per day.
Steep two green tea bags in hot waterThe time the tea bags will spend on your eye depends on what you intend to use them for. For instance, if you are to ease a minor injury in your eye, you should place a cold compress tea bag for nothing less than 15 minutes.
But, if you need to drain stye, the tea bags must spend nothing less than 10 minutes on your eyes.
Interestingly, most green tea bags can be used more than one or two times after the initial usage. This is a great advantage for those that are fond of green tea.
How do you make a green tea eye mask?
The green tea eye mask is another way to use green tea around the eye. Like green tea bags, it will help you remove imperfections around your eyes.
To make a green tea eye mask, you can either use matcha powder or reuse the green tea leaves. Also, ensure you have two small eye-shaped cotton pads, essential oil, or lemon (optional) at your disposal.
If you are using the leftover leaves:
- Rebrew the green tea as usual and pour it inside a cup
- Add 1 tablespoon essential oil or lemon if you wish
- Dip the two eye-shaped cotton pads inside the cup of green tea for about 15 seconds
- Remove the soaked cotton pads inside the cup of green tea and put them in a separate empty container
- Put the soaked cotton pads inside a refrigerator for about 10 minutes
- Remove the cotton pads from the refrigerator and allow them to sit under your eye for about 25 minutes.
And, if you are going to use matcha powder:
- Take 1 tablespoon of culinary grade matcha green tea powder
- Add 1 tablespoon essential oil or grapeseed oil and a drop of lemon if you wish
- You can add 2 tablespoons of milk to make the mask serum consistent
- Mix well and apply gently to under eyes
- Allow to sit for 20 minutes.
- Wipe off with warm water and a soft towel.
Take 1 tablespoon of culinary grade matcha green tea powderApart from this, green tea ice cube works better too when comes to the eye. When you rub these eye cubes around your eye, it will soothe your puffy eyes as well as dark circles.
How to make green tea ice cubes for the eyes?
- Brew two or three bags of green tea in a cup
- Remove the tea bags and allow the tea to cool
- You may add rose water, aloe vera, green tea extracts (depending on what you intend to use for) to the cool green tea
- Pour the cool green tea into the ice cube tray. And put it inside the freezer.
- Allow it to freeze for about 4 to 5 hours
Using green tea ice cubes around the eyes ices is very easy.
- Rinse the skin around your eye and rub the ice cube gently on it.
- You can also wrap the ice cubes in a soft washed cloth and pat it gently around your eye.
- To avoid any complication, don’t let the ice cubes stay for long on your eye if you add ingredients like rose water or even green tea extract to it. And,
- Ensure you rub the ice cubes before bedtime or very early in the morning to enhance optimum results.
What type of green tea is good for your eyes?
As of today, no study indicates the type of green tea that is good for the eye. So, all types of green tea are beneficial to the eye.
Moreover, since the composition of green tea varies from type to type and brand to brand, it is safe to say that the type rich in caffeine, flavonoids, tannin, Vitamin A, C, and E, lutein, and zeaxanthin are best for the eyes.
So, while stocking for the best green tea for your eye, avoid the decaf one as it contains little or no caffeine.
You should also check if the important components such as caffeine, tannin, vitamin A, to mention a few, are present in abundance in the one you want to buy.
How much green tea is good for your eyes?
The amount of green tea that is good for your eye depends on how you are using it. If you will be drinking it, 2 to 3 cups per day is enough to provide the adequate caffeine, vitamin A, and antioxidants needed for the proper function of the eyes.
Or else, you may suffer the side effect of green tea when you take anything greater than that.
On the other hand, the amount of green tea bags to place on your eye per day depends on the type of diseases you intend to cure. If you are trying to drain a stye, you can place it two to three times per day.
Nevertheless, no amount of green tea bags you place on your eye per day could trigger any side effect.
Important FAQs
Can green tea raise eye pressure?
Green tea cannot raise eye pressure if taken moderately. If not, your eye pressure may go beyond normal. Green tea contains caffeine which is solely responsible for the abnormal increase in eye pressure. So, to prevent this, always stick to the normal 2-3 cups per day.
Is green tea good for dry eyes?
According to a small study, green tea could harm the tear film. But as of today, no research has shown how green tea can affect the number of tears in the eye.
However, caffeine in green tea is good for tear production. So, it is safe to say that green tea is good for dry eyes.
Is green tea good for eye infections?
Of course, you can use green tea to cure several eye infections starting from glaucoma, rosacea, stye, sore eye, to mention just a few. This is because green tea is loaded with antioxidants. And it has an anti-inflammatory property.
Can green tea remove dark circles?
Yes! The caffeine in green tea helps to narrow the blood vessels around the eye and constrict blood flow, consequently, removing dark circles around the eyes.
For optimum results, use the cold compress green tea bag when dealing with this problem.
Can green tea cause blurred vision?
No! Green tea cannot blur your vision. Although there are lots of fusses about caffeine causing blurred vision, green tea does not contain such amount of caffeine that could blur vision.
As a matter of fact, an 8 oz cup of green tea contains just 35-50 mg of caffeine. And this is not enough to impair or blur your vision.
Is green tea good for eye health?
Green tea is highly rich in vitamins and antioxidants that are extremely beneficial to the eye. When you drink or place green tea bags on your eye, your sore eye or stye-infested eye will be restored to normal without any hitch.
Final Thoughts
Whether by drinking it or by placing it on the eyes, green tea is highly beneficial to the eye. Meanwhile, whichever way you plan to use it for your eye, make sure you do it responsibly.
Abusing it may make you suffer its side effect. Also, don’t drink or place expired green tea on your eye.
In conclusion, apart from green tea, you can also take some other types of tea. This includes lavender tea, black tea, chamomile, rooibos, and any other herbal teas.
