Lifestyle September 17, 2019
After a long war between tea and coffee, is there finally a winner?
The war between coffee and tea is one that has been fought for centuries.
Coffee devotees insist that coffee is better; it has higher caffeine and one cannot dispute the beauty of latte art.
Tea devotees, on the other hand, are confident that tea is the clear winner; it was used by Japanese and Chinese monks to help with meditation, and can potentially help reduce stress.
But as the dust settles, which of the two, from a health perspective, are scientists saying is the clear winner? Is coffee bad for you? Is tea worse? What, after centuries of debate, is the final outcome?
In 2017, BMJ released a research study stating that “three to four cups [of coffee] a day would be unlikely to result in significant harm to participants.” And, in 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed coffee from the carcinogen (a substance that can cause cancer) list.
So, if drinking three to four cups of coffee a day can’t kill you, what are its health benefits? According to extensive research, it has been proven that coffee, containing essential nutrients, can improve alertness and performance, can increase your lifespan, can prevent dangerous diseases, and can even fight depression.
Although coffee has significant health benefits and, when drank moderately, cannot cause cancer, it does have some cons. Coffee has more acidic than tea and it is debatable i coffee can have long-term side-effects for women during pregnancy. Coffee can also impair sleep and is said to potentially cause high anxiety.
“Tea is the elixir of life, ” father of Taoism, Lao Tzu, once said. The Chinese and Japanese have used it in rituals for centuries, drinking tea to keep monks awake during long periods of meditation. Tea is said to be used to aid headaches, can prevent heart disease, and is associated with overall better health. Tea can also help with weight loss, reduce stress and anxiety, improve digestion, and even prevent tooth decay.
Although the health benefits of tea are clear, research has shown that drinking too much tea may increase the chances of prostate cancer for men. Consumption of tea, like coffee, may also increase the chances of having a miscarriage.
Both tea and coffee!
Although up for debate for centuries (especially after so much negativity toward coffee consumption), it was unclear which was better for you.
But because of the antioxidants found in both tea and coffee, scientists have determined that the benefits of drinking either — moderately, and not during pregnancy — profoundly outweight the cons of drinking neither.
So coffee versus tea is like Coke versus Pepsi: it all comes down to personal preference.
Now let’s shake hands, call a draw, and enjoy a healthy cup’a caffein.
