Coffee and Tea are enjoyed by many worldwide.
We are a planet of coffee lovers and our passion is just getting warmed up! Tea has been around much longer since about 350 AD and coffee much later in the 1400’s.
French philosopher Voltaire is rumored to have had 50 cups of coffee a day! New Yorkers drink 7 times more coffee than any other American city. Tea is actually the 2nd choice of beverage around the world; the first being water!
There are many different benefits from coffee and tea; however, each individual has a preferred drink. Let’s compare some commonly shared traits and compounds.
All coffee comes from the same plant, the two biggest varieties are Arabica and Robusta Coffee Bean, and flavors will differ depending on where it’s grown and how it is processed and roasted. All Tea comes from the same plant Camellia sinensis; again taste differs; flavors will depend on how and where it is grown, how it is processed, whether it is fermented and/or steamed. Both coffee and tea have different flowers, foods or spices added to enhance taste.
For instance, review Green tea versus Black tea. Green tea has the freshest, highest anti-oxidants and is the most nutritious. Black tea, starts out as Green tea, but has been processed to produce black tea leaves. It is enjoyed by many and still has good benefits but processing methods produce a loss of 50-75% of its chemical components.
Higher altitude grown Coffee and Green tea are better crops versus lower altitude due to an increase in the antioxidant compounds, polyphenols, and stronger flavors. In the case of Green tea, altitude also increases the chlorophyll content of the leaves but lowers caffeine content.
The most important anti-oxidant, in Green tea is polyphenol EGCG (epigallo-catechin 3 gallate) which has 20 times the power of Vitamin C, and 25 times the power of Vitamin E. There is quite a list of other benefits from drinking Green tea.
It is an antiviral, anti- bacterial, lowers blood pressure and glucose, helps with weight loss and improves the immune system. EGCG studies show it can kill cancer cells. L-theanine is an amino acid in tea that can improve memory and helps prevent aging.
In comparison, Coffee has a compound, chlorogenic acid, an anti -oxidant that in concentrated form can influence metabolism of glucose and fat. It is one of the newest products on the market; made from green unroasted coffee bean extract and sold in pill form. This extract form gives the best results as discussed above and also improves memory, attention and focus. It can reduce arterial inflammation and inhibit plague deposits on artery walls. Chlorogenic acid is also caffeine free.
Coffee for some individuals can be too much of a stimulant; studies at Duke University show an increase in blood pressure if drinking more than 3 cups per day and increased adrenalin, a stress hormone, which can increase heart rate!
There is approximately 1/3 the amount of caffeine in Green tea compared to the caffeine per cup of coffee. Using larger green tea leaves means less caffeine than small leaf pieces or powder like in some tea bags. Black tea has more caffeine released due to the amount of processing. For lower caffeine, brew Green tea for 2-3 minutes per cup which equals 20-40mg caffeine; a 3-5 minute brew can equal 40-100 mg of caffeine depending on leave size and how it was processed. Coffee, depending on the roast, can equal 100 mg of caffeine per cup; in general a lighter roast is higher in caffeine than a darker roast.
You can eat your tea and coffee! Many are aware you can chew on coffee beans for treats and it is used with many desserts. Green tea when fresh and only lightly steamed can be crushed as any other dry herb and sprinkled on food or used as dips along with other herbs. When you eat your green tea your body benefits by receiving several hundred times the nutrient levels, versus just drinking the brew. In many countries it is included in their main dishes; such as in Tibet they serve it with breakfast cereal: barley, green tea leaves and goats milk!
Everyone reacts differently to caffeine, some are more sensitive and some just like one taste over another.
Some, like me, enjoy both coffee and tea; so I split up my week and enjoy both. Both are beneficial, whether you are eating or drinking, you are getting the best antioxidants available!
References:
Dr. Jane Feng Powley
The Coffee Lovers Handbook by Matt Robinson
Cynthia Burrows, from Austin, Texas, owns Cindy Burrows, Natural Health Consultant; assisting individuals with health issues they would like to change. She will set up a program giving choices of foods, herbs, teas and homeopathic suggestions. Cindy is past owner of Nature’s Healing Herbs, an Herbal, Green Tea, and Tincture product line, and a rare product line of Green Tea Foods. She has certificates for Herbalist at East West School of Herbology, and as Wellness Consultant with the Wellness Forum in Ohio.
Cindy is also a Medical Technologist, with a B.S. degree from Mansfield University in Mansfield Pa., she has been in healthcare for over 30 years. In 2005, she started using a new device founded in Europe, Quantum Biofeedback, “an energy rebalancing of the body”, by using our bodies electricity or frequency waves it can detect stress points in the body, she has added this to her consulting practice. She now has her Certification as a Biofeedback Specialist. She helps her clients by working with the synergy of herbs, food, homeopathy, and aromatherapy within her practice. She is a speaker, writer, and teacher. Cindy has been interviewed on TV; about the benefits of Green Tea and has been on radio about her small business tour to Ecuador.
Cindy has been an herbalist for over 20 years and has spent 6 years learning through the East West School of Herbology with Michael Tierra. She has studied Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic Herbs with a strong emphasis on nutrition. Along with many other continued studies of alternative and complementary medicine. She is a Certified Wellness Consultant, through a special program, The Wellness Forum, which has its nutrition program, now part of the curriculum at Ohio State University, providing educational seminars and workshops designed to impart relevant nutrition information to individuals to take control of their own health. These programs give healthier options and choices that can impact your longevity and quality of life. Cindy has been a speaker to many groups and has conducted many of her own classes on food and healthy life style programs.
Cindy has been involved with a hands-on healing program for the past 4 years and offers energy healing, through donation only, to anyone who needs her services.
She is Co-president of the Austin Herb Society and a member of the American Herbalist Guild. Cynthia has been a board member on many programs in the past including; La Sertoma, Arthritis Foundation, Toastmasters International, National Association of Female Executives, Handicapped Equestrian Learning Program, Entrepreneurs Association, and Austin Integrated Health Care Program.
Cindy also loves nature, animals, reading, blending teas, juices, etc.; likes to hike, and work with plants and, of course, cooking., mostly vegetarian.
Cindy has an adventurous streak.
She has organized and taken tours with business and artists groups to Big Bend, Texas, New Mexico, USA, and Ecuador, South America.
