A hearty sip!

The debate over coffee vs tea is unending-each has its benefits. Here is a lowdown

In various meetings, worldwide - be it an informal get-together with old friends, a black-tie affair with the biggest tycoons of a concerned industry or just a lazy afternoon with the next-door neighbour – there is always tea or coffee. Till a short while back, most people, and academicians or otherwise, viewed these two drinks in a purely unscientific manner. However, recently, the benefits and ills of both beverages have been researched intensively conclusion both can be counted as super-foods with positive and negative effects. Before elaborating further, one must accept that the choice of drinks is a personal one.

Coffee - magnifies the impact of painkillers playing an important role in acting as a stimulant for the central nervous system. In small doses, it boosts athletic performance. The effects of coffee - good or bad - are much more emphatic due to its higher caffeine content. Coffee is involved in the prevention of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

However, 19 of the various chemicals present in roasted coffee have been identified as carcinogens. Coffee can prevent gout. It improves short term memory and recall and reduces the risk of getting Alzheimer’s and dementia. If a drinker consumes 3-4 cups of tea a day, then his/her chances of suffering cardiac arrest decrease. Coffee, as a matter of fact, if had in more than eight cups a day, can increase the chances of stillbirths. Drinking coffee reduces the risk of Type-2 diabetes.

Tea - The caffeine in tea is known to boost the concentration of sufferers of adult ADHD and improve their self-confidence.

Tea – black, white, red or green have known to cut down the risk of cancer but if it is brewed it negates the benefits and can turn cancer causing. Adding milk reduces the health benefit of tea especially the protecting properties of chest and throat congestion.

Drinking tea, among other things, helps prevent Type-1 diabetes. It also contains chlorides as well as fluorides that are good for the teeth. In fact, drinking four cups of black tea a day for six weeks was found to lower levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.

Possibly the healthiest variety of tea – white tea, has a high level of antioxidants, which are useful anti-ageing material, reducing the possibility of inflammation and heart disease. Tea also has properties that are thermogenic in nature, promoting the oxidation of fats and preventing the drinker from becoming obese as it is an obstacle to the growth of new fat cells.

When you think of India, you think of ‘chai’, and when you think specifically of southern India, you can practically smell the coffee! And today, we have an interesting twist on our tea. There is a vast variety of flavours of green tea. Be it Tulsi, Lime and Lemon, Orange Spicer, or a Blackcurrant, these flavoured tea bags add some fun to our regular tea. One must say, however, that both drinks have their advantages when had in moderation. Remember, even something good, when had in excess, can be bad. I would highly recommend a Tulsi (basil) flavoured tea and if it is organic then even better.

So, do not fear the tea or coffee and enjoy this piping hot brew throughout the year. It is difficult to be objective in a ‘Tea vs Coffee’ debate, as the natural tendency is to be biased towards our preferred drinks. However, we have tried our best to be unbiased in this report. When seen holistically, tea is a better beverage to have, health-wise. Having far more positives and not nearly as many negatives.