Coffee or Green Tea: Which Is Better?

Tea, Coffee or Me: Comparing Green Tea and Coffee

The world usually wakes up to the smell of a hot brewing cup of coffee. This popular beverage forms the lifeline for so many people and they all prefer one or more signature flavours- be it latte, mocha, cappuccino, espresso, americano, or anything else.

Such is the unforgettable aura of this caffeine-powered drink that it has ruled the world for centuries now and is still in no mood to relent. However, we are also experiencing a paradigm shift in this tradition as an herbal variant of tea, called the Green Tea, is taking its roots in several major sections of the society.

Its patrons are the ones who’d rather go with a simmering cup of herbal drink that comes with no bells and whistles, and can simply be prepared with boiling water. As against coffee, it doesn’t exactly require sugar and is thus preferred by diabetic patients too.

We are offering this blogpost to offer more insights to figure out just how your favourite first cup of daily bedside beverage stands against its counterpart, and we shall pep up the discussion with a bird’s eye view to help you decide if you should make a switch in the favour of the competing beverage. You are the best judge of what you need and this presentation would only help you make a decision.

Do You Need a Bedside Beverage like Green Tea or Coffee Every Morning?

Yes and No.

A sane answer to the above question depends on factors more than one, including your lifestyle, your energy levels, and your schedule for the day among others.

Waking up to the smell of your favourite beverage as it is being brewed would automatically start your day on a positive note- and it is a factor that is equally applicable to both green tea and coffee. Then comes the psychological side of it that counts for the lion’s share of all the reasons.

Here are some reasons why most of us prefer waking up to their favourite beverage:

Hydrates us in the morning

We usually sleep for six to eight hours daily and wake up dehydrated. Drinking beverages early in the morning provides enough water to our bodies to get the internal functionalities started.

Helps with weight loss

Unconfirmed researches state that early morning beverages support our metabolism process and if consumed without sugar, they even help in burning excess body fat harmlessly and naturally.

Boosts our immunity

Should you wake up with a bit of cold or cough, waking up to your favourite beverage would help your body with some extra resources to ward the infection off.

Keeps you sharp and focused

Some people can’t imagine waking up without a cup of coffee or tea. They need it to boost their mental prowess and to keep themselves focused- and a bedside hot cup of their favourite beverage can work wonders.

However, there is also a wide majority of nutritionists and dieticians who believe that waking up with hot beverages every day may also have some serious downsides.

Here Are a Few Reasons Why They Ask You to Stay Away from This Practice:

May disrupt your metabolic process

As a complete antithesis to the above points, drinking hot beverages (apart from hot water) disrupts our natural flow of metabolism activities.

Dehydrates our bodies in the long run

We all know green tea and coffee are diuretics. While they do provide us with hydration in their first sip, they also take much water out of our bodies and this may interfere with other regular activities.

Increases acidity

Even habitual tea and coffee drinkers would agree to it that these beverages do often increase acidity levels, leading to a troubled day ahead.

Could be detrimental to health professionals. People who go to a gym to keep themselves in shape usually follow a strict diet plan that may not allow for bedside beverages. Early morning buildup of sugar and other unwanted substances may interfere with their workout plans negatively.

There are millions of takers for both the aforementioned polarizing views across the world and we shall leave you to your better judgment.

Green Tea: Advantages and Disadvantages

Green Tea is loaded with tons of benefits and we shall be taking them up next. Consuming one cup daily is known to have benefits ranging from anti-aging to liver detoxification and so much more. Here are some of the health-centric benefits you may choose to enjoy by consuming green tea in an appropriate manner every day.

Healthy Bioactive Compounds

Packed with anti-aging bioactive compounds like catechin and polyphenols, Green Tea is your safest bet to contain the formation of free radicals that reduce the elasticity and glow of your skin.

Has a calming effect

For those who do not prefer caffeine and would rather like to invite some calmness in their lives, green tea is the answer. It has L-theanine, an amino acid that reduces anxiety and calms the body.

Fat burning

Green tea, when taken without sugar, helps in the cleansing of the liver and other organs of our digestive system. This boosts our metabolic process and helps in burning extra fat in our bodies.

Antioxidants

Green tea presumably packs in the highest concentration of antioxidants among all hot beverages. These antioxidants are known for their resistive properties against all forms of cancers and diabetes.

Stimulates the brain and prevents cardiovascular diseases

Green Tea has loads of antioxidants like catechin that prevent brain cells from aging. This tea also has zero calories and cholesterol, and it helps the heart to keep functioning normally.

While this herbal tea does help a lot with accelerated weight loss and blood pressure issues, it doesn’t come without its set of possible risks.

We Are Mentioning Some of Them Below:

Presence of tannins

Tannins are naturally-occurring chemical compounds in plant-based beverages like tea. They are known to increase acidity and may even cause acid reflux if taken in unmoderated quantities.

May cause diarrhea or an upset stomach

Suppose you are lying in your bed, half asleep and trying to sip a hot cup of green tea. Your liver might not take it just as lightly- and we hope you have got the point there!

It still has caffeine

People who switch to green tea are often attracted to its extremely low caffeine content as compared to coffee. Please note that while its caffeine content is minimal, it is still not zero and neither are its side-effects.

Blood and Iron Deficiency

This one is a bit controversial but worth keeping in mind nevertheless. Green Tea contains certain antioxidants that may interfere negatively with the absorption of iron, and may thus lead to an iron or blood deficiency over a period of time.

Proceed with caution during pregnancy

Pregnancy and green tea usually do not walk very far together. The natural compounds found in this herbal tea may interfere with the development of the fetus in later stages and might even call for some untoward results.

Green Tea is undoubtedly a powerhouse when it comes to its health-centric benefits, albeit with a fair share of health issues too. Please note that consuming an unmoderated or ill-advised amount of this herbal beverage is sure to court disasters and we would strongly advise you to keep your daily consumption in check.

Coffee: Advantages and Disadvantages

As one of the most popular and most consumed beverages in the world, coffee is the language that the world speaks in unison through different dialects. Some people simply can’t imagine their lives without their daily cups of coffee any more than they can imagine their life without their loved ones. They wake up and sleep to the tune of this classic and cosmopolitan drink- and there’s perhaps nothing that can turn their love for it to something else.

Welcome to the exciting world of Coffee!

We are furthering the discussion with some of the advantages of consuming coffee regularly. We hope you come close to identify your drinking patterns with the following points:

Provides an instant spike in blood pressure

Powered by caffeine, a cup of coffee can provide an instant increase in blood pressure. A good way to measure the latter’s magnitude would be to check for the milk- and sugar-based content in it.

Lowers the risk of cancers, and diseases like Alzheimer and Parkinson

Recent medical research has stated that there may be a direct correlation between the antioxidants present in coffee and resistance to various types of cancers and disorders of our nervous system.

Cleanses the liver and prevents Cirrhosis

Coffee is beyond perfect when comes to stimulate the functionality of the liver. Early morning consumption of a hot cup of coffee can pep up your liver and may even help it guard against diseases like Cirrhosis and Hepatitis

Keeps you alert and charged all day long

One cup of coffee contains 70 to 140 mg of caffeine and most adults may tolerate up to 600 mg, though up to two cups of coffee are enough to keep anyone sharp and charged throughout the day.

Remember we said above that coffee is the language the world speaks in unison, albeit in different dialects? This holds because coffee assumes many different variants and its relative strength of antioxidants and caffeine too changes with the content of milk in it and the brewing process used to make it.

This is one very good reason that its “milkier” versions (like Latte and Caffé Crema) are often suggested to people with higher blood pressure while the ones with lesser milk content (like Cappuccino) are advised to those facing lower blood pressure levels. We advise you to check with your doctor or dietician to choose your preferred coffee variant at the earliest.

Here Are Some Common Health Issues That May Arise from Pursuing an Inappropriate or Unmoderated Quantity of Coffee Every Day:

Indigestion and Acid Reflux

Our bodies prefer alkaline foods and beverages for faster consumption, and coffee is acidic. Taken empty stomach it may affect the inner lining of our stomach and may lead to acidity.

Caffeine allergy and/or overdose

An allergy towards caffeine can be quite risky, especially when you are pushing yourself to drink more coffee. This may quickly lead to an overdose with regards to the amount of coffee that your liver can process and the results can be summarily described as lethal.

Interferes with sleep patterns

The caffeine content in Coffee boosts our alertness and keeps us sharp. However, midnight may not be the most suitable time to stay sharp for most people. It thus comes advised that one should not consume this beverage in the night and especially after dinner.

May lead you to age faster

Listen carefully or you may misinterpret. Coffee does have a ton of antioxidants that have anti-aging properties; however, it may also resist the formation of a natural protein called collagen that is responsible for keeping our skin glowing and elastic. This could be scary!

Summing Up

Coffee and Green Tea are two of the most popular beverages in the world, and millions of people choose to wake up with the aroma of their brewing up. They all have their versions of coffee or tea and they all believe that are drinking the most perfect form of beverage- and the funny thing is that they are all correct.

The only time they go without having their favourite beverage for hours on end is perhaps when they are sleeping, and they’d love to change the status quo as soon as they can.

We know of your love for your favourite bedside beverage and the way you prefer it should be brewed for you. We would only like you to share it so that others too could have the pleasure of having some of it too- and may we please advise you to consume it in moderation?