One study asked people to drink four cups of coffee or tea throughout the day. Both beverages had similar effects on alertness and cognitive performance. But the tea had one big advantage over coffee: It had enough caffeine to aid performance, but not so much that it disrupted sleep. Score one for tea!
Less Anxiety and Better Sleep
Coffee has a greater amount of caffeine than tea does. The drink contains between 95 to 200 milligrams of caffeine per cup, whereas tea contains between 6 to 60 milligrams, depending on the type. Therefore, those who switch may see improved sleep and less anxiety.
The results showed noticeably better structural connectivity between related brain regions, though there were no significant differences in the functional connections. Six regions in the frontal lobe were significantly better connected in terms of functional connectivity in tea drinkers compared to non-tea drinkers.
What's the better choice, coffee or tea? “Neither is particularly harmful, and both offer an abundance of potential health benefits. Like most things in life, it comes down to portion control and individual preference,” Bollig said. If you aren't sensitive to caffeine, both are considered healthy.
Quitting coffee will improve your mood
If you're struggling with anxiety or feeling overly stressed, quitting caffeine may help improve your mood. You may also find that when you give up caffeine, your sleep quality improves, and you wake up feeling more rested and less groggy in the morning.
Tea can help improve your cholesterol! Many unfiltered coffee drinks including French pressed coffee or espresso contain compounds that increase your LDL, or “bad”, cholesterol. By switching to tea you can help to lower this cholesterol as well as hopefully impress your doctor at your next physical!
Research shows that in people with panic disorder, caffeine consumption raises the risk of having a panic attack and increases levels of anxiety. People with anxiety should consider avoiding or limiting coffee and other caffeinated drinks.
Your body needs to be hydrated when you have anxiety. Many people with anxiety don't drink enough water, and this always makes anxiety symptoms worse. Drinking any type of beverage can be helpful, but tea, especially, is a healthy drink that has no additives that can contribute to poorer health.
Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that improves your mood as well as boosts your alertness. The same adenosine-blocking effect that makes you feel more alert is also responsible for this. Caffeine makes you more attentive, less bored, and improves your mood by preventing the relaxing effects of adenosine.
Black tea is often considered the best alternative to coffee thanks to the flavor, however a standard cup is quite low in caffeine. That's why Zest black tea is more comparable to a cup of coffee - we use additional tea extract to naturally boost the caffeine levels in each serving.
Coffee beverages are also more caffeinated than tea, so they provide more of the health benefits associated with caffeine, such as making it easier to breathe by relaxing your airways (perfect for asthmatics), improved memory (perfect for students and office workers), and constricting the blood vessels in your brain, ...
Best for overall health: green tea
When it comes to tea, green tea gets the gold. “Green tea is the champ when it comes to offering health benefits,” says Czerwony. “It's the Swiss Army knife of teas. It covers a lot of territory.”
In the brain, caffeine stimulates the release of dopamine, which is another neurotransmitter. Dopamine is responsible for feelings of euphoria. Another reason is that coffee contains antioxidants. These antioxidants work in various ways throughout the body to prevent or repair damage caused by stress and other factors.
A range of foods and drinks — such as chicory root coffee, rooibos tea, smoothies, and carob — can make good alternatives to caffeinated products for those wishing to reduce their caffeine intake. Caffeine occurs naturally in many plants, including coffee beans, tea leaves, and cocoa beans.
By quitting, you can return to a normal state of alertness and improve energy levels. Financial Savings: Modern specialty coffee drinks can take a big bite out of your monthly budget. Lower Blood Pressure: Quitting caffeine can lower your blood pressure and take pressure off of your heart.
This suggests that dark roasted coffee — whether regular or decaf — has the strongest protective effect on the brain.
How to make coffee a brain boost. Through my research and studies, I've found that coffee has more good effects than bad when consumed in moderation. Two to four cups per day, or less than 400 milligrams of caffeine, is recommended.
The caffeine-brain connection
The reason you get a quick wakeup call after chugging a mug of coffee has to do with the way caffeine tricks your brain. Not only is caffeine a brain stimulant, but it also blocks receptors for a chemical called adenosine, which normally prevents the release of excitatory brain chemicals.
Foods naturally rich in magnesium may, therefore, help a person to feel calmer. Examples include leafy greens, such as spinach and Swiss chard. Other sources include legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Foods rich in zinc such as oysters, cashews, liver, beef, and egg yolks have been linked to lowered anxiety.