Coffee or Tea? It’s Your Choice!

During my last presentation at Borders in Stamford CT on topic of cancer, discussion moved into “coffee territory”. Suddenly, room became divided into two camps: those for coffee vs. those against it. I remained neutral, because while coffee has a lot of anti-oxidants, it is very stimulating and I’m not sure that we need more stimulants in our lives.

Personally, I bend in the direction of tea for only one reason: I want my skin look young and healthy. When I stopped drinking coffee about 3 years ago my skin became brighter, less dehydrated and less wrinkled.

Pros and Cons of Tea:

Tea is full of antioxidants that improve concentration and gently boost energy. The free-radical-inhibiting property of tea is more potent than that of vitamin E, and tea is a proven preventive and treatment for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The polyphenols in tea, especially the catechins, are powerful antioxidants that help ward off diabetes and cancer.

As a weight loss tool, tea is a zero-calorie beverage.

Tea is a wonderful way to flush the body and replace fluids.
On average, a cup of black tea contains about one third of the caffeine you would get from the same cup of coffee. Green tea contains about one sixth of that amount.

Pros and Cons of Coffee:

Many people reach for coffee the first thing every morning. Without question, many people get a positive jolt. But over time coffee actually depletes their vitality, "borrowing" energy that they didn't have in the first place.

Caffeine acts as a central nervous system stimulant. It may cause stress, anxiety, a racing mind, and even insomnia, working against your attempts to relax the body and calm the mind; it will also raise your blood pressure.

Research shows that coffee is full of anti-oxidants (phenolic compounds). They may decrease the rate of atherosclerosis, because of coffee induces an increase in the resistance of LDL to oxidative modification, probably as a result of the incorporation of coffee's phenolic acids into LDL. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17823423?ordinalpos=12&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum.


Stay healthy.