Everyone enjoys a hot cup of goodness (Tea or coffee) in the evening, whether it is coffee or tea, to freshen up the remaining half of
the day and invite the night with some warmth and comfort. While everyone has his/her own personal preferences when it comes down to brewing a favorite drink, science can help you decide which drink is healthier.
Statistics show that tea is sold almost twice as much as coffee annually. There are diverse reasons to love tea and coffee for their flavor, aroma and taste, but let’s get this straight: tea scores higher when it comes to health benefits and overall richness when compared to plain coffee. Below are some details that’ll elaborate why tea serves as a better option for an evening drink.
- Tea hydrates you better than coffee
Tea, whether iced or hot, replenishes bodily fluid. It is an amazing drink to revitalize your cells after a tiresome day. Coffee does the same, but not as effectively as tea. Tea is, in fact, fantastic to hydrate your skin and helps you appear fresher from inside out – coffee misses out on this part. Also, the rich antioxidants that fight aging are a blessing that only tea has. Coffee doesn’t have even half of the antioxidants as much as tea.
- Tea controls your weight, coffee doesn’t
Recent research has proved that tea – especially green tea – is an amazing source to keep your weight in 
check, without putting on extra pounds when consuming coffee. Tea revs up your metabolism much faster than coffee, and helps burn extra calories. It also quenches your thirst more effectively than coffee, thereby stopping you from consuming sugared soda and juices.
- Tea elevates your mood and wards off stress much faster
For reasons that are still not clearly known, tea is better at alleviating your stress than coffee. Tea is a more powerful anti-depressant and helps you feel good about yourself much quicker. Also, tea has shown to delay brain degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease along with stroke. An ingredient called tannin in tea tends to provide a boost to brain activity by leveling down stress and upgrading the brain health. Sadly, coffee largely misses out on this part.
- Tea protects bones and teeth – coffee hardly does
Surprisingly, tea does a lot more good to your bones and oral health than bad. Having a cup of tea, twice a day or once regularly in the evening, provides you with enough fluoride to keep your teeth strong. Yes, some unwarranted teeth discoloration is a definite drawback – but mind you, coffee equally tarnishes teeth color too.
In addition, having tea every evening can delay osteoporosis. Thanks to ‘catechins’ present in tea that are absent in coffee. Just a cup daily is enough to benefit from the bony benefit that tea provides.
- Overall, tea boost your immune system more effectively than coffee
Well yes, tea keeps your immune system on the go for any infection. Remember how a hot cup of tea soothed your bout of flu once? Coffee can provide a temporary relief with its aroma and warmth, but it obviously doesn’t do it as holistically as tea. With regular tea intake, you can ensure that your immune system stays strong to keep your fit and fight any ominous health concerns.
Next time when you’re out to decide, make sure to be health savvy while you’re keeping the rich aroma and flavor of tea and coffee as a priority. Tea definitely outweighs the benefits that coffee provides. Slip away a hot cup for a quick, refreshing and healthy kick to your wonderful evenings.
Johanna Oosterwijk N.D.
Reiki Master.