10 Reasons Why People Who Drink Tea Are Doing It Right
If you’re looking for a drink stacked with health benefits this morning, save your money on that green juice and ginger shot you planned on buying. Boil some water and grab a bag of tea, instead.
It’s been known for centuries that tea can provide us with certain health benefits, but what many Americans don’t take the time to actually learn is exactly what these benefits are.
The battle between coffee and tea for breakfast beverage supremacy has been something of a lopsided war over the years. While coffee may contain an unrivaled amount of caffeine, tea might be the more sensible morning drink for you.
So, if you’re trying to make the crossover from coffee to tea, I’ve attached 10 reasons why tea drinkers are healthier than the people who opt for the alternative.
1. Drinking green tea helps you shed belly fat.
Green tea is a stellar option at any time, given its array of different health benefits; however, if you’re looking to lose weight, green tea should definitely be stocked in your cabinet.
It's a proven metabolism booster and given that so much about your weight is predicated on your metabolic rate, it is revered for its ability to oxidize fat by up to 17 percent and improve overall weight loss by up to 77.
2. Drinking green tea improves dental health.
Green tea may also ensure your annual trip to the dentist isn’t filled with the godforsaken sound of his drill. How? The answer lies within green tea’s catechins. Catechins are molecules found within green tea that inhibit the growth of bacteria, specifically streptococcus mutans, the mouth’s chief enemy.
By drinking green tea, you’ll also be proactively decreasing the formation of plaque in your mouth, in addition to combatting cavities and tooth decay.
3. Black and green teas have tons of antioxidants.
Black and green teas contain chemicals called flavonoids that prevent oxidation and also decrease clotting in the body. Green tea will have the most abundant amount of antioxidants because it is not fermented, whereas the black variety is.
These antioxidants decrease the risk for heart attacks and also help moderate your cholesterol levels.
4. It helps battle Alzheimer’s and dementia.
According to PsyBlog, a study conducted by Rushworth, et al. concluded a naturally-occurring component of green tea aids in curing Alzheimer's disease. Essentially, a chemical found within green tea – epigallocatechin-3-gallate – decreases plaque buildup in in the brain.
5. It improves your appearance.
Tea can become an incredibly potent aspect of your beauty regimen. As My Beauty Bunny explains, one of tea’s greatest benefits come from its natural ability to hydrate our bodies – as opposed to coffee, which promotes the opposite because it's a diuretic. That’s why you find yourself constantly running to the bathroom after a nice “trenta” from Starbucks.
Tea also contains polyphenols, which are molecules that bear strong anti-aging qualities. And if you have acne, you’re in luck: Tea also naturally lowers stress levels and is a cortisol antagonist. Drinking tea will prevent future breakouts.
6. It improves cognitive function.
If you have a big test tomorrow morning, don’t chug a couple mugs of black coffee to ensure that you’re alert and firing on all cylinders. Tea might be the more efficient alternative.
The amino acid theanine found within tea is associated with “enhanced cognitive performance,” according to a PsyBlog experiment done by Einother and Martens.
7. It lowers your risk of cancer.
While both green and black teas are the most associated with prevention of cancer – and the reduction of risk – the scientific statistics that support tea’s anti-cancer case are staggering.
According to Women’s Health, just by “sipping tea” at least three times each week, you can decrease your risk for specific digestive cancers by almost 30 percent. And, as they say, you can never have too much of a good thing: Drinking more tea only makes the benefits more abundant.
8. It relieves stress and other ailments.
After doing a little digging, you'll find that there’s just about a different type of herbal tea to remedy every ailment. If you have a nervous stomach over an upcoming presentation at work or school, opt for mint herbal tea.
For sleeplessness in the nights before a big exam, ginseng. Headache after hours in traffic? Find some herbal tea with lavender in it. A Healthy Us provides a longer list, here.
9. It will improve your performance at the gym.
While drinking a few glasses of English Breakfast tea with a danish each morning won’t have you looking like Arnold Schwartzenegger any time soon, that doesn’t mean it can’t help you get there.
Tea has been proven to provide many physical wonders, one being its ability to boost your endurance during physical activity and workouts. Catechins, which are found in green tea, can help your body catalyze fat burning – and then turn it into fuel, improving muscle endurance during workouts.
10. While many people uphold the notion that coffee is the only way they can wake up each morning, science suggests otherwise.
While many types of teas don’t contain large quantities of caffeine, black tea is a major exception.
Your standard cup of mild-roast coffee will contain around 150 mg of caffeine in each 8 oz. cup. While green tea – which has more caffeine than standard tea – has about 30 mg of caffeine per 8 oz. serving.
Black tea, however, generally has about 65-70 mg of caffeine per 8 oz. serving. By drinking a larger glass of black tea, you can account for a similar amount of caffeine each morning.
Photo Courtesy: We Heart It
