Since college, I have always been a coffee lover - plain black or with a little bit of almond milk. I never noticed anything happening differently besides getting more energy, of course. But this past year to year and a half I have noticed frequent “crashes” and the only way to describe this is stomach aches, major headaches, feeling completely exhausted and done for the day. This normally happens about an hour after I finish my cup of coffee, mind you I only had one a day. I realized last week that it was because of the coffee and the amount of caffeine in the coffee did not suit well with my body. I also do not need caffeine, some people that I know have caffeine withdrawals and NEED caffeine, that is not my case. I could go without it but I like it because it wakes me up and helps with digestion and bowel movement. Those are the two main things that I want and need with caffeine.
I have always liked tea, hot or cold, but never thought of it as a caffeinated beverage like I did coffee. I did some research and found out the benefits of green tea, how much caffeine is in it and decided I would make the switch. I have only been drinking this for about three days now but I feel GREAT. It gives me the energy I want with digestion help, just like coffee did for me. This is not for everyone; some people coffee does not affect, I am jealous because I LOVE the taste. If you are that person keep drinking your coffee because there are so many health benefits for both coffee and green tea!
Let’s start off with the health benefits of coffee. Obviously the main reason is improves energy levels; Beyond that it actually helps the brain. Coffee improves the brain's neurological functions including mood, memory, energy levels, reaction times, etc. Now who would have ever thought coffee makes you smarter?! Coffee acts as a fat burner and is found in almost all “fat burning supplements” because it is a NATURAL fat burner. I put quotations around that because instead of buying expensive pills to burn fat, just drink a cup of coffee instead and it will save you money and time. It burns fat 10-30% faster but the downfall is it diminishes those percentages when you drink it for a long period of time (years and years). Coffee reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Some studies show it reduces the risk by 23-50% some show it reduces it greater than 60%. Remember when I said coffee makes you smarter and increases the memory function of the brain? Coffee reduces risk of Alzheimers and Dementia by 65% - this is only a preventative measure and cannot cure this disease. Back to the mood side, it can also help with depression. 4.1% of people in the US meet the criteria for clinical depression, that is around 13.5 million people that could meet the criteria for depression. Harvard put out a study that showed women who drank 4 cups of coffee a day were 20% less likely to have clinical depression. Another study was done with 200,000 people who drank 4 cups a day were 56% less likely to die from suicide, by drinking coffee alone. It can also reduce multiple types of cancer, heart disease and lower stroke risk. These are, but not limited to, benefits of coffee.
There are a few downsides of coffee of course, which are small but include increased risk of anxiety and sleep deprivation. You can control sleep deprivation without drinking coffee after 2-3:00 PM and if you are known to have anxiety/heart issues to always ask your health care provider if it is safe to indulge in this drink. It is also important to not overindulge there are many ways to find out how much coffee is right for your body and to try and make sure you do not go over the recommended amount, this could cause more downsides for you individually. The last downside I want to focus on is the withdrawal of coffee, if you drink coffee on a regular basis and skip a few days you could have withdrawal symptoms and this could potentially lead to headaches, brain fogginess, grogginess and exhaustion.
Let’s flip the switch to green tea. One of the main factors of green tea is the healthy bioactive compounds it contains. One of the most important ones is EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate this link will tell you more about this compound) it is a natural compound that helps reduce cell damage and can help with aging and disease. This is the main factor that gives green tea its medical advantages. It awakens the brain, like coffee, but without the jittery affect that coffee can give you. Therefore, it gives you the same benefits as coffee as in memory, mood, energy levels, reaction times, etc. Green tea has L-theanine and caffeine and those two combined give a more stable and productive energy than coffee. Green tea also helps with reducing risks of cancer, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, alzheimers, and dementia just like coffee. It also reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Another upside to green tea is it may reduce the risk of bad breath, more than certain foods or gums, due to its antibacterial properties. Green tea can help with bone loss and bone health by reducing inflammation and increasing bone building. The anti inflammatory product in green tea helps with skin and longevity. Avid green tea drinkers have a lower biological age by about 5 years as compared to non green tea drinkers.
There are multiple benefits of both as listed above but seem to be more in green tea, the difference is if you switch to green tea you will be getting less caffeine but the same energy needed to support you throughout the day, you will be indulging in more healthy antioxidants that reduce many types of illness/disease and support healthy living. It helps with sleep issues and anxiety, reduces inflammation in the body, it is better for oral health, and you still get all the benefits of coffee and then some.
Now again, I am not trying to get the coffee drinkers to switch to green tea because some may not have bad experiences or even want to. Since there are a tremendous amount of benefits for both green tea and coffee either is completely healthy and safe to drink. I also do not push for everyone to drink these caffeinated beverages since some people cannot have caffeine for health reasons. The articles linked above are for more information to help decide if you want to make the switch or if you would like to start drinking them.
