Nausea or Headache After Matcha: What Is Known About Caffeine and When Medical Advice Makes Sense

After a bowl of matcha you feel nauseous, feel pressure in your stomach or have a headache, and you wonder whether the matcha is to blame. That cannot be judged from a distance. What can be said factually: matcha contains caffeine, and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) describes which symptoms caffeine can cause with high intake or in sensitive people. This article summarises what BfR and EFSA have published on this, how you can roughly work out your own caffeine intake and when medical advice makes sense. You will not find tips against the symptoms here: matcha is a food and not a remedy for symptoms.

What the BfR writes about caffeine and symptoms

In its questions and answers on caffeine (as of January 2026) [1], the BfR describes what caffeine can cause with high intake or in sensitive people: "increased nervousness and excitability, insomnia, sweating and racing heart". With very high consumption, the BfR names "severe restlessness, nausea, raised blood pressure, racing heart". How sensitively someone reacts to caffeine differs from person to person: the same amount can trigger nothing in one person and be clearly noticeable in another.

There are two points to bear in mind. First, this list describes caffeine, not matcha in particular. All caffeine from matcha, coffee, black tea, cola or chocolate counts towards the total. Second, nausea, stomach pressure or headache can have many causes that have nothing to do with caffeine. You can find out what other ingredients your drink or baked good contains by checking the ingredient information or asking at the café. Which of these plays a role for you cannot be said from outside, and we claim nothing about it. Whether there is a connection with matcha in your case can be clarified neither by this article nor by a forum. If symptoms are recurring or severe, seek medical advice.

The EFSA safety levels for caffeine

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assessed the safety of caffeine in 2015 (EFSA Journal 2015;13(5):4102) [2]. According to EFSA, in healthy adults single doses of up to 200 mg and daily amounts of up to 400 mg of caffeine from all sources spread over the day give no cause for safety concerns. For pregnant and breastfeeding women it names an intake of up to 200 mg per day spread over the day. Because of limited data, for healthy children and adolescents it proposes 3 mg per kg of body weight as a safety level for a single dose and in total per day.

These values are assessments for population groups. They are not a consumption recommendation and not a guarantee that you tolerate a certain amount without symptoms. The BfR points out that people with medical conditions or who take medication are not covered by the EFSA assessment [1]. If you are below these values and still have symptoms, they tell you nothing about the cause. If you are above them, you only know that you have left the assessed range.

How much caffeine is in a serving of matcha

There is no fixed value for matcha. Published analyses give for matcha powder typically 18.9 to 44.4 mg of caffeine per g (Kochman et al. 2021, Molecules) [3] and 14.4 to 34.1 mg per g (Kolackova et al. 2020, cited in Kika et al. 2024, Foods) [4]. In summary: typically about 14 to 44 mg per g, depending on variety, harvest and batch. Individual samples also lie outside this range; Kika et al. 2024 measured only about 2.2 mg per g in one sample.

For a serving of 2 g, this gives by calculation about 30 to 90 mg of caffeine. That is a range from the literature, not a measured value for a particular powder. If you use more powder, the amount of caffeine in the drink rises accordingly. Spoons differ; you only know how much powder you actually use if you weigh it once on a precision scale. For a concrete caffeine figure you need an analysis value for the batch in question; that also applies to comparing two varieties. For our own batches we will only state a figure once an analysis value is available. Where the ranges come from is explained in How much caffeine is in matcha?.

Adding up your total intake for the day

If you want to know where you stand with your caffeine intake, you add up all the sources of a day. For matcha you take your weighed amount of powder and the literature range; for other drinks and foods there are approximate values from EFSA and BfR. A numerical comparison per serving is also shown in From coffee to matcha.

You compare the total with the EFSA safety levels from the section above; the calculation aid with the EFSA caffeine values shows this step by step. The result is a rough estimate; without an analysis value for your batch, your actual intake cannot be determined reliably. We derive no recommendation from this on how much you should drink; that also applies to the question of whether a coffee is still fine after a bowl of matcha. Both contain caffeine, the amounts add up, and what you make of that is your decision. How to measure 2 g reliably and which amounts are usual for plain, latte and iced is in the guide on Matcha amount, ratio and water temperature.

Coffee left out: what the BfR writes about caffeine withdrawal

Many people try matcha after cutting back on coffee or giving it up completely. The BfR explains that giving up caffeine you regularly consume may trigger withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and tiredness [1]. That applies to caffeine from any source. Anyone who switches from several cups of coffee a day to one serving of matcha changes their caffeine intake; how much is shown by the calculation in the section above. And anyone who has drunk matcha daily for a while and then stops likewise leaves out habitual caffeine.

That is information about caffeine, not about matcha. Matcha is not a remedy for withdrawal symptoms, and we do not claim that it influences the switch from coffee in any way. If you are unsure about a switch or notice symptoms that last longer, seek medical advice.

Checking the quality of the powder

Regardless of caffeine, what applies to any food applies to matcha: if the powder smells musty or rancid, is damp or clumped with moisture, or shows visible mould, you throw it away. Colour and taste alone say nothing about whether a powder is still fine. A fishy or seaweed-like note can be typical of the variety; clearly musty or rancid is a warning sign. Whether a spoiled powder would cause you symptoms, we cannot judge. It does not belong in the cup either way.

After opening, store matcha in a cool, dry place with the pack tightly closed, and preferably use it within a few weeks. Also follow the storage instructions on the pack. A new variety or a new batch may also differ in caffeine content from the previous one; more cannot be said without analysis.

Why this article gives no tips against symptoms

You will find no advice in this article on how to prepare matcha or when to drink it so that symptoms do not occur. There are two reasons for this. First, we cannot judge from a distance what the cause is in your case. Second, any such advice would be a statement that matcha, in a certain preparation or at a certain time, spares you symptoms; there is no evidence for that which we could cite.

For green tea catechins, caffeine and L-theanine there are no authorised health claims in the EU; we therefore make no health promises. That applies in both directions: we do not say that matcha does anything beneficial, and we do not assess whether a variety, a preparation or another drink affects symptoms differently. For the same reason, we do not answer questions about symptoms that compare matcha with green tea infusion or coffee, or compare different price classes. We also make no statement on whether matcha affects digestion.

When medical advice makes sense

If symptoms are recurring or severe, seek medical advice. That applies especially if you have a medical condition or take medication, because the EFSA assessment does not cover these groups, and if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Even if symptoms such as dizziness or palpitations are recognisably connected with your caffeine intake, that is a case for medical advice and not for a forum. With acute severe symptoms such as persistent racing heart, you do not wait but get medically examined.

For the conversation it is useful to know how much powder you took (weighed), which other caffeine sources you had during the day and how long you have had the symptoms. Matcha is a food and not a remedy for symptoms. Whether you keep drinking it, in what amount and when, you decide yourself or together with your doctor; we give no recommendation on that.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) (2026): Fragen und Antworten zu Koffein und koffeinhaltigen Lebensmitteln, einschließlich Energy Drinks. BfR, Fragen und Antworten, 05.01.2026.
2. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) (2015): Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA Journal 13(5):4102.
3. Kochman J, Jakubczyk K, Antoniewicz J, Mruk H, Janda K (2021): Review article; used for information on chemical composition, section 2.2. Molecules 26(1):85. DOI: 10.3390/molecules26010085.
4. Kika J, Jakubczyk K, Ligenza A, Maciejewska-Markiewicz D, Szymczykowska K, Janda-Milczarek K (2024): Matcha Green Tea: Chemical Composition, Phenolic Acids, Caffeine and Fatty Acid Profile. Foods 13(8):1167.
5. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (n.d.): Caffeine. EFSA, Topics. Caffeine assessment: 2015. Accessed 3 October 2026.