So many people I know are unable to begin their day without their dose of caffeine!

The two most recognised forms of this dose are the legendary cutting/adrakwali chai and pitted against this formidable opponent is (filter) coffee!

While both the groups can boast of a faithful set of followers, there are some (like me) who appreciate a flavourful masala chai’ as well as a cup of steaming and strong coffee.

Although the title says that we shall be will be comparing the two stimulants, this post will focus more on highlighting the multiple beneficial effects of both.

So let us look at them one at a time.

Tea AKA Adraki Chai AKA Cutting

tea

People from previous generations (our parents and grandparents) have a particular liking towards tea and would choose tea given a choice between tea and coffee.

This makes India a primarily tea-drinking nation! And much of the credit for this goes to the Britishers. How one may ask?

Before Britishers came to India, tea was not your usual commodity, it was a luxury item. Like kesar still is, but even more so.

After the tea production was substantially increased during British rule, they had to sell off the tea to the masses to avoid wastage and consequent losses.

So they marketed it well to our forefathers and people were more than happy to buy a ‘luxury item’ at reasonable rates which was possible due to mass production.

Due to its stimulating effect and taste, tea garnered more and more followers and the rest, as they say, is history.

So that was some trivia! 😀

Now coming to the point of discussion.

Benefits of Tea

Tea has a number of benefits and we will make sure the most important ones are covered below.

Mind you, all these are well-established results concluded by a number of studies conducted a number of times.

So here we go.

Reduces the risks of heart attacks

Drinking tea is an exercise for your heart!

Research has shown that people who drink tea regularly show reduced risks of not only heart attacks as well as other cardiovascular diseases.

So drink tea ‘heartily!’

Antioxidants, antioxidants and some more antioxidants

We hope you know what antioxidants are, what they do, why are essential and why shouldn’t they be ignored.

If you don’t, do not fret, read all about antioxidants here.

Now that you know the great benefits of antioxidants, also know that tea is a stockhouse of antioxidants that keep various organs in your body young and illness-free.

Green Tea is a blessing for diabetics

The processing of sugar is weak in diabetics.

It has been shown that green tea is capable of improving the processing of sugar in our bodies.

So diabetics get that buffer of occasionally eating sweets if they are regular drinkers of green tea.

If your child has bad grades in school, give him some tea

It has been proved that drinking tea makes you sharper and increases concentration levels.

This is why it also helps in prevention of dementia and related diseases like Alzheimer’s.

To improve your bone health, have some (green) tea

Green tea drinkers display better bone density and better bone strength.

Also, drinking green tea will keep you away from motor skills disorders like Parkinson’s.

Other benefits

Tea has shown to reverse the effects of smoking. That doesn’t mean you should smoke, it is and will be a bad thing for you and people around you always.

Tea can reverse the degenerative effects that you might suffer from, like radiation.

People who regularly drink tea display better immunity.

Coffee AKA South Indian Filter Capee

coffee

Most people do not know that coffee beans are actually green in color.

green coffee beans

The image you see above is what raw coffee beans look like. They acquire the brown color from roasting.

Consumption of green coffee is a fad in western countries, mainly USA; but it has not yet been firmly established that green coffee is better than its roasted counterpart.

Unlike tea, coffee does not have a love affair with India to boast of. However, the importance of coffee is constantly increasing due to its soaring popularity among the youth of India.

Corporate world, especially, is a huge fan of coffee for its high caffeine content (almost 4 times that of tea) which stimulates people to work for long hours and increase productivity.

South India, especially, is a huge, huge fanatic of coffee because it is indigenous to the southern states.

India’s coffee production is dominated by Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and no wonder the world famous ‘filter capee’ is a creation of South India.

Enough of trivia, now let us tell you in what ways is coffee beneficial to your body! 😀

Benefits of Coffee

So many essential nutrients in one cup

A single cup of coffee contains:

  • Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): 11% of the RDA*.
  • Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5): 6% of the RDA.
  • Manganese and Potassium: 3% of the RDA.
  • Magnesium and Niacin (B3): 2% of the RDA.

*RDA = Recommended Daily Value

Drinking Coffee improves your liver’s health

Liver is not only one of the most important organs of your body but also the most prone to diseases which can hamper the overall functioning of your body.

For this reason, it is important to have a healthy liver. And coffee helps this cause.

It has been observed that regular coffee drinkers are seldom affected by liver diseases like cirrhosis, fatty liver, hepatitis etc.

Drink Coffee whenever you feel suicidal

No really, coffee is said to cure depression and stop it’s advent altogether if you are a regular coffee drinker.

Depression is a serious mental condition which inevitably leads to suicide and a coffee drinker is always a jolly person thanks to the happiness chemicals your body produces in response to coffee consumption.

Also, it has been observed that regular coffee drinkers live longer than those who do not drink coffee.

Lose Weight and Burn Fat with Coffee

We saw earlier that coffee contains potassium and magnesium which are responsible for the smooth regulation of sugar. This proper regulation means your crave less for sugary items and eat less of them.

Also, coffee, especially black coffee helps break down fat cells.

Coffee is just Tea’s sibling

Yes, pretty much.

I mean the following benefits of coffee are also the benefits that tea provides –

  • Protection from Dementia and memory loss related diseases
  • Increasing sharpness and alertness
  • Protection from disorders like Parkinson’s
  • Coffee provides better immunity
  • Insane amounts of antioxidants
  • Good for heart health and overall health

So, tea and coffee are great and you should have either or both of them regularly.

But how to define ‘regularly’?

As a rule of thumb, limit your caffeine intake to 4 cups per day.

This means you can have 4 cups of coffee or 4 cups of tea or 2 cups of each coffee and tea.

What I do is to kickstart my day I have a cup of coffee in the morning at breakfast. This really readies me to take on the world.

And then an hour or so after lunch, when I start feeling drowsy I have a cup of tea.

When I go back home, I have another cup of tea or coffee. That depends on my mood really.

So I consume 3 cups of caffeine throughout my day.

One important point to remember is that you shouldn’t have either tea or coffee, but especially coffee at least 2-3 hours before you go to bed.

It might interfere with your sleep and you will certainly not have a sound sleep.

So with these pointers, it’s time to wrap up this article.

Share this post to let the world know that you are a proud tea/coffee drinker and if you want people to know how wonderful the benefits of having the same are! 😀

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