Green Tea With Ginger and Honey: What Are the Benefits?

Each ingredient in this cup has its own research, but that research doesn’t add up to proof for the drink. We searched PubMed for trials of green tea with both ginger and honey as a drink and found none. What exists is mostly about each ingredient alone, often in concentrated form.

What is each ingredient known for?

Ingredient	Known for	What the evidence shows
Green tea	Cholesterol, heart health, weight	Firm conclusions aren’t possible yet for most uses
Ginger	Nausea	May help nausea in pregnancy, but most nausea studies tested supplements
Honey	Coughs	A review found it beat usual care, but better trials are needed. Not for babies under 1

What are the benefits of green tea and ginger?

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says ginger may help with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Ginger supplements might also ease menstrual cramps. Most studies of motion sickness haven’t shown a benefit. NCCIH also notes that most of the nausea studies tested dietary supplements, not foods.

For green tea, NCCIH says definite conclusions can’t yet be reached for most uses. A small drop in total and LDL cholesterol came mostly from studies of extract supplements, not brewed tea.

Green tea with ginger has been studied, but not as the drink in this recipe. A double-blind study of people with cedar pollen allergy reported some symptom relief, compared with placebo, from a Japanese green tea cultivar called benifuuki with ginger extract added. Another test gave 22 healthy volunteers a tea extract of green tea, cinnamon and ginger, and reported a smaller blood sugar rise after eating than with each herb alone. Neither tells you what a homemade cup will do.

The combination has also been tested as a supplement. In one trial, 50 overweight women took either a placebo or a supplement with green tea, capsaicin and ginger extracts for 8 weeks. The supplement group lost about 1.8 kg, while the placebo group gained about 0.4 kg. That result doesn’t carry over to your mug. The supplement held concentrated extracts plus capsaicin, and a few slices of ginger in tea aren’t a measured dose.

Does honey add any benefits?

Honey’s best support is for coughs. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) lists hot lemon and honey as something to try for a cough, but it says there’s limited evidence that it helps and that it isn’t suitable for babies under 1. A 2021 review of 14 studies found honey beat usual care for cough frequency and severity, though its authors called for better placebo-controlled trials.

Those studies looked at honey, not honey stirred into green tea. A warm cup with a teaspoon of honey may still be a pleasant choice when you have a cough, but we can’t say how it compares.

Is manuka honey better in green tea?

We found no evidence that it is. Manuka honey comes from Leptospermum plants native to New Zealand and Australia. Its research focuses on killing bacteria in lab tests and on wound care, and much of its lab activity is linked to a compound called methylglyoxal.

None of that tells you what happens when you drink it in tea. We found no trial of manuka honey in green tea, so treat it as a flavor choice. It’s still honey, and it still adds sugar.

How to make green tea with ginger and honey

This makes one mug of about 8 oz.

1. Thinly slice about 1 inch of fresh ginger. Put it in a small pot with about 10 oz of water.
2. Simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.
3. Let the water cool for a few minutes, to about 170°F to 180°F.
4. Add one green tea bag or 1 teaspoon of loose green tea. Steep for 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Strain into a mug and stir in 1 teaspoon of honey.

These amounts are starting points, so adjust them to your taste.

Ginger is naturally caffeine-free, so this cup has about the same caffeine as plain green tea. USDA data works out to about 29 mg for a 1-cup (8 oz) serving. Want less? Try a decaf tea like Bigelow’s decaf green tea. For a citrus version of this drink, see orange green tea.

How much sugar does honey add?

USDA data lists about 17 g of sugars in 1 tablespoon of honey. The FDA counts honey as an added sugar and sets the Daily Value for added sugars at 50 g a day. The teaspoon figures below are our math from USDA’s tablespoon figure.

Honey	Sugars	Calories	% Daily Value for added sugars
1 teaspoon	About 6 g	About 21	About 11%
2 teaspoons	About 11 g	About 43	About 23%
1 tablespoon	About 17 g	About 64	About 34%

Who should be careful?

• Babies under 1: never give them honey, including in tea. MedlinePlus says honey can contain spores of the bacteria that cause infant botulism, and that it shouldn’t be fed to infants under 1.
• Pregnancy: NCCIH says ginger supplements may be safe, but ask your healthcare provider first. Green tea has caffeine, so keep your intake moderate.
• Breastfeeding: little is known about whether ginger is safe to use while breastfeeding.
• Heartburn or stomach upset: ginger can cause heartburn, abdominal discomfort and diarrhea. If your symptoms get worse, use less or skip it.
• Medication: green tea at high doses can lower levels of the blood pressure drug nadolol. Herbs can interact with other medicines too, so ask your pharmacist.

Want another honey idea? Try manuka honey in green tea, or browse all our green tea blends.