Thanks for a thoughtful response.

Just to clear one thing up, I was referring to brewed tea (hot or
cold). I agree that consuming tea leaves "straight" would likely not
have much effect other than possibly placebo.

There are a couple of areas where I do think tea could have a positive
effect on athletic performance. First, as a stimulant used just prior
to a game/competition I think that tea could act as a pick up for
players. I heard that in the NFL after ephedrine was banned a lot of
people started drinking yerba mate and matcha right before game time.
Also, caffeine has been shown to increase performance in endurance
athletes by mobilizing fat stores, which are then used in energy
production. Caffeine has been shown to reduce glycogen consumption in
muscle in experimental tests. I personally know that many world class
runners in Kenya drink a large amount of rich black tea. I guess the
argument could be made that it's caffeine that's the real performance
enhancer and not tea. However, there are other stimulants found in
tea, namely Theophylline, which may have other positive effects.

Caffeine is banned under the category of stimulants along with a whole
list of other seemingly non performance enhancing substances. I agree
that it shouldn't be there. But alcohol and cannaboid are also on the
banned list, and I think these two substances should be taken off
before caffeine is.

Although not tea, I think Rooibos could provide positive benefits when
consumed after a workout. It's high in electrolytes and has a general
relaxing effect.

Robert Hanson
www.hansontea.com