Clean water is always a safe and healthy choice of beverage. It has various benefits, from boosting the metabolism in the mornings to cleaning your entire body of toxins.
But if you want a more pleasant drink to kick-start your day with or enjoy your break, several other drinks can do the job as well as water does.
Although you can’t replace water because it’s the most important liquid for the body, there are several other trustworthy beverages. The most popular and at the same time the most consumed ones worldwide are coffee and tea.
Coffee earned a bad reputation throughout the years. This is mainly because the production process involves spraying up to 97% of it with different kinds of pesticides. This, in turn, causes mycotoxin contamination of the coffee beans.
Inappropriate roasting is another segment of the manufacturing process where toxins can enter the composition.
But one thing’s for sure. If coffee is raised, reaped, and roasted properly, it can be a very healthy beverage.
Recommended Daily Dosage of Coffee
A government advisory committee claims that Americans are safe to have up to 5 cups of coffee per day. That’s approximately 400gr of caffeine. They proposed this for the first time in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans back in their 2015 edition.
Multiple meta-analyses are the basis of this proposal, assessing the connection between chronic diseases and coffee, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
Coffee has many benefits thanks to the antioxidants it contains along with the large amounts of polyphenols and hydrocinnamic acid.
Researchers have out that it’s the top source of antioxidants in U.S. people’s diets. Mainly because it is consumed in the largest amounts, incomparable to any other.
The antioxidants might even help the neutralization of the slightly rasping effects the caffeine has.
Coffee Can be Beneficial for the Heart
You might think coffee temporarily increases blood pressure. But a recent long-term study proved the myth wrong. Now, it’s thought that people are to expand their tolerance to the hypertensive effects of coffee.
On the other hand, coffee could prove to be quite healthy. 11 studies and over 480,000 people tested, showed that drinking 2 to 6 cups of coffee per day might lower the risk of stroke.
The Study Claims
Coffee’s phenolic compounds have an antioxidant capacity and can prevent the oxidative alteration of low-solidity lipoprotein cholesterol. That reduces the atherosclerotic procedure.
A significant haul down in coronary heart disease risk in women was linked to an average consumption of coffee. Sufficient evidence shows that coffee is inversely linked to type 2 diabetes, a cardiovascular disease risk factor.
Another study of more than 25.000 people, clarified:
People who drank an average amount of coffee/per day (3-5 cups) are less likely to store calcium deposits in the coronary arteries compared to those who drank none or more.
Calcium deposits (atherosclerosis) present a large part of the arterial plaque. This causes desensitization of the arteries. Calcium can successfully predict future risks for heart disease in the coronary artery.
Brain Health Benefits of the Coffee
Coffee is widely known for its capacity to boost focus and improve cognitive function. Neurons from glutamate neurotoxicity are protected by the chlorogenic acid (CGA) contained in the coffee.
It implies that it could have benefits for neurodegenerative diseases among ischemic stroke. In the Middle Ages, drinking 3 to 5 cups per day could decrease the risks of dementia or Alzheimer’s by up to 65%.
Caffeine aids the manufacturing of neurotransmitters serotonin in the brain. Boosting the conversion of brain stem cells into new neurons releases a brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which contributes to the overall improvement of brain health.
People with high blood pressure (caused by caffeine), or sensitive cognitive impairment (MCI) are less inclined to develop full-blown dementia. Research pointed to the close correlation between lowering the risk of dementia (in particular for people with MCI) and caffeine.
Coffee Is a Powerful Tool in the Fight Against Cancer
A recent study was performed on people with advanced stages of colon cancer. People who drank 4 (or more) cups of coffee/per day decreased the chances of cancer repetition or even death by 52%.
The reason is the substances in coffee that have anti-cancer abilities. Polyphenols, Flavonoids, lignan phytoestrogens, and coffee acid all have the potential to mollify the pathways tangled to tumor development.
Apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, as well as inflammatory and stress responses, are included.
2-3 cups of coffee/per day are also beneficial, as they reduce up to 31% chances of reoccurrence/death. Soda is another caffeinated product, but when tested it didn’t have the same results alike. While decaffeinated coffee did not have any connection to the risks of colon cancer whatsoever.
In one meta-analysis (data collected from 59 studies), 1 cup of coffee per day proved to lower the chances of cancer by 3%. The researchers said:
“Drinking coffee might reduce the risks of colorectal, hepatocellular, pancreatic, buccal and pharyngeal, leukemia, endometrial, bladder, esophageal, prostate and breast cancers.”
Some studies even suggest that the worst type of skin cancer – Melanoma risk, can be reduced by drinking coffee.
Diabetes back in 2007 confirmed that consuming 2 cups of coffee/per day could reduce the chances of liver cancer by up to 43%.
Do You Need More Reasons?
It’s fine if you don’t drink coffee at all. You can have the required daily income of antioxidants by eating vegetables and cocoa too.
Anyway, if you already are a passionate coffee drinker, more good news follows. Coffee is closely connected to lowering the chances of metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
Harvard Medical School stated:
“Light drinkers’ chances of developing diabetes are twice bigger compared to heavy drinkers. Some coffee elements might have blood sugar decreasing abilities, thus increasing the resting rate of the metabolism.”
Due to the lack of caffeine in decaffeinated coffee, caffeinated coffee is more effective against diabetes.
Medical News Today, claims that the body’s reactivity to insulin is increased with the consumption of caffeine, which reduces the need for hormones in the body. This has reductive effects on risk factors for cancer and diabetes as it subdues inflammation.
According to The Springer Link, the more coffee we drink, the less prone we are to developing death-causing symptoms like strokes, diabetes, heart, and respiratory diseases, and infections.
Coffee or Tea?
Why not both? When it comes to health benefits, tea is right alongside coffee on the list. Coffee may hold the primate of the most popular drink in the U.S., but tea rules on a global scale, after water.
It achieved its fame back in 1.800 when it was a common practice to treat typhoid and cholera with boiled water, killing the water-borne pathogens and securing the safety of drinking.
All teas have the same plant of origin called Camellia sinensis, regardless of their type. The different variations of tea depend on the manufacturing process as well as the oxidization degree (oxygen exposure).
For example, green tea is not oxidized until its leaves are reaped, whilst black tea is oxidized. Both teams are healthy and beneficial, but to preserve the antioxidants in green tea, it needs to be oxidized.
Tea Benefits
About 30% of the dry tea leaf weight consists of the naturally-occurring elements polyphenols, which make the tea rich. Another subgroup of polyphenols is flavonoids, rich in catechins.
One of them that surely tops the list is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is vigorous against various conditions and diseases.
In 2015, the International Conference on Alzheimer’s published a study saying tea has tremendous potential to safeguard brain health.
Namely, people who drank green tea up to 6 days a week were less mentally diminished compared to those who didn’t drink at all.
An amino acid called theanine is a green tea compound that has psychoactive premises and can surpass the blood-brain obstacle.
It also expands the levels of dopamine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and alpha wave movement. This helps the body relax and decreases both physical and mental stress.
Theanine can aid in reducing memory loss due to aging and has an influence on the focus and complex problem-solving parts of your brain.
The Utilization of green tea catechins presents weight loss benefits and can comply with other chemicals to boost levels of thermogenesis and fat burn. The combination of tea and caffeine gave better results in fat burn than caffeine solely.
People who drank green tea lost almost 3 pounds and were most likely to maintain the weight loss. Drinking coffee or tea helps you consume more water, thus aiding weight loss.
Diabetes, suggests that we need to drink 16oz of water before our meals. It helped the people who drank water before meals lose up to 9 pounds, 3 more pounds than people who didn’t.
Tea and Coffee Are Excellent Risk Destroyers of Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure
Drinking six cups of tea daily reduces the risk of diabetes. Furthermore, drinking more than this amount of tea improves the body’s rebuff system up to 33% more than people who drink less than 1 cup per week.
Other studies suggest drinking 2 or more cups of tea/per day could help you preserve your heart health condition. In addition, EGCG could prove very obliging to stroke prevention, heart attacks, and arterio¬sclerosis due to its capability to soften the arteries and boost blood flow.
One Cochrane review in the Epoch Times evaluated 11 random controlled trials that lasted 3 months. The aim was to prevent heart disease in both healthy people and people who have a high chance of developing one.
Narrowed results presented both black and green tea to have made a significant decrease in blood pressure. Green tea reduced cholesterol in total, while black tea reduced LDL cholesterol.
How to Boost Your Tea Benefits
One previous research presented Vitamin C as an ideal booster for catechins absorption in the body, five times more than regular. This causes 80% of the catechins to linger in a bioavailable state, making them easy for the body to absorb.
So that makes squeezing a lemon in your cup of tea next time a no-brainer. On the other hand, milk is not so beneficial as an addition to your tea, as its protein could bind with the antioxidants and neutralize them. That reduces the health benefits of the tea to a noticeably lower level.
Green tree plants are popular for their great effectiveness in the absorption of soil lead.
The lead is then transported to the leaves of the plant. Countries with massive pollution like China (where almost 90% of green tea on earth is produced), could preserve a significant lead amount.
Both green and black tea have high natural levels of fluoride in them, even if they were nurtured without pesticides, organically. Owing to the fact that tea plants assimilate the fluoride through the roots, fluoride naturally occurs in the soil involved.
When you make a choice on what kind of tea you should buy, just make sure it’s organic to avoid pesticides. It should be grown in mint conditions, due to its ability to absorb not only fluoride but heavy metals and other toxins from the water and soil.
Cultivating high-quality pure tea requires a plain environment which is a vital part of the process.
The Best Coffee Is Organic and Black
The healthiest class of all is, of course, the organic, black coffee. Keep in mind that coffee beans are actually one of the most pesticide-sprayed plants on earth with slightly less than 3% of it remaining organic. Make sure you look for coffee beans with accredited origins only.
It’s best if you purchased it only on a valid assessment. One research advises not to put cream in your coffee as it could impede your body’s ability to utilize some essential chlorogenic acids.
In the meantime, remember that adding sugar to your coffee will increase insulin levels, which bestows insulin resistance. If plausible, buy unceasing shade-grown coffee. To many, it tastes better too.
Furthermore, you’d want to look for whole beans that smell and taste fresh. If they don’t, then the coffee is probably stale. A clear indicator, of whether the coffee is fresh, is if the coffee itself has a pleasant scent or not.
To prevent staleness, you’ll need to grind the coffee yourself, prior to pre-ground coffee. It could become stale before you even get home.
Not bleached filters are necessary if you are using a coffee machine. Chlorine sticks to them, eventually dropping and falling into the cup during the infusion process.
Also, chlorine is infamously filled with treacherous sterilized byproducts. One of them is dioxin.
Needless to start drinking coffee/tea if you aren’t already. This particular habit proved to be quite healthy, as long as you don’t get too carried away by it.
Warning!
Caffeine intake can have a serious collision with the growing fetus of a pregnant woman. Therefore, doctors recommend pregnant women avoid it. Caffeine can pass through the body’s placenta without any problems, and considering that it’s not beneficial to the baby, can be quite a menace.
Source Dr. Mercola | Diabetes | Health Harvard | NCBI | NCBI