What To Drink: Tea Or Coffee?

Waking up in the morning is made a whole lot easier when you have something warm and comforting to drink. The two most popular morning drinks that come in both caffeinated and decaffeinated options are tea and coffee. While you may think you know the health benefits and adverse side effects of each of these drinks, it can be hard to know for sure when there are tons of new health studies coming out. People are asking themselves: When should I drink coffee? How many cups a day? Should I switch to tea? Does tea have more caffeine? With so much unclear information, it is helpful to look at the health effects both beneficial and detrimental of coffee and tea and where they came from.

Tea and Coffee Through Time

Both tea and coffee have significant histories as they have played a role in both ancient civilizations and recent centuries. By looking at where they originate from and their growth of popularity worldwide, you can get a feel for their benefits.

Tea

There are several varieties of tea, but all are made from pouring hot water over leaves. It is by far one of the most common drinks worldwide, and it just so happens to have a ton of beneficial properties that make it a healthy and nutritious drink. It originated in China and spread across Asia and Europe, with popularity growing for recreational and medicinal use. Tea comes in six different varieties, differentiated by the processing of the leaves. All true teas come from the Camellia sinensis plant.

1. White tea is unoxidized and wilted using immature leaves with the least amount of processing possible.
2. Yellow tea is both unoxidized and unwilted, but leaves are left to turn yellow. Other names for yellow tea are Korean Kwang cha or Chinese Huang cha.
3. Green tea is one of the most popular types of tea in the world, with both oxidized and unwilted leaves.
4. Oolong tea is made from the same plant, but the leaves are bruised, wilted, and somewhat oxidized.
5. Black tea leaves are fully oxidized, sometimes crushed, and made from wilted leaves.
6. Post Fermented Tea is when green tea has been left to ferment.

As all of these teas are made from the Camellia sinensis or tea plant, they are deemed true tea. There are a hundred more varieties of herbal teas, which can contain several plants, flowers, herbs, and fruit. Some of the most common flavors of herbal tea are chamomile, mint, and rosehip. When it comes to making Kratom tea, this would be described as an herbal variation of a pure tea.

Coffee

Coffee comes from the beans of a Coffea plant, which were first discovered by an Ethiopian goat farmer who realized the berries were energizing after his goats had ingested them—the secret of the stimulating seeds spread like wildfire throughout Saudi Arabia and Europe. Throughout time, coffee received considerable skepticism from many civilizations, especially in Venice, where it was thought to be evil in 1615. It was when Pope Clement VIII tried the drink and claimed it was delightful that people started to realize the stimulating benefits of coffee as it heightened productivity throughout the day.

Benefits

Both tea and coffee have their benefits. As both drinks contain caffeine, people look to them for the stimulant, especially in the morning. Depending on how tea and coffee are prepared and dried, the caffeine level will vary.

Many healthcare practitioners and homeopaths recognize that tea has many benefits, and as such, it is sometimes given as a treatment for several illnesses, especially herbal teas. With the ability to relax, soothe, and heal the body, it is commonly ingested when people are sick, overwhelmed, or wanting to wind down. True tea contains a high amount of antioxidants, whether green tea or black tea, which can help eliminate free radicals throughout the body, which can have a plethora of beneficial outcomes.

One cup of coffee has almost double the amount of caffeine as tea, making it a powerful stimulant. Coffee is fantastic for boosting your brain power, concentration, and memory while also providing you with a hefty dose of antioxidants. If you have one cup of coffee per day, you can help keep yourself from developing cognition issues. Many homeopaths also recommend coffee for patients who need special liver attention as it helps with detoxification. As coffee can ignite many parts of the brain, there are a ton of ways that it can improve your lifestyle and make you a more productive person.

Disadvantages

Coffee and tea are both considered acceptable and widely used drinks without many side effects or disadvantages. While this is mainly true, the problems begin to arise when they are consumed in excessive amounts. As caffeine is a controlled substance in the United States and classified as a Schedule III drug, many people recognize its potential for abuse. By ingesting too much coffee, you can wreak havoc on your adrenal system, dehydrate yourself, cause insomnia, and increase blood pressure. You can usually tell when you have had too much coffee as it can make you feel jittery, which is unpleasant. Tea has similar disadvantages in that it has caffeine. Many people also complain about the staining of tea on their teeth, but this is also true for coffee.

When you try to measure tea vs. coffee, it comes down to personal preference and what desired effect you want to achieve. You can always enjoy both as long as it is in moderation. Many people also choose to drink Kratom as it comes in a powder form that can be made into a tea and provide similar characteristics as it comes from a plant in the same family as coffee.