I will preface this by stating that I am not a coffee drinker. I never have been, and never really be too interested in coffee (I’m not a fan of the smell!). But I do know that a lot of people enjoy coffee and need or have gotten used to that extra jolt of caffeine in the morning to help them start their day. As a health care professional, I know a lot of people who love their coffee.
There are a few benefits to switching from coffee to tea, here are a few that I’ve brainstormed for you all:
Less teeth stains!
No more coffee breath.
Lower your caffeine consumption.
Easier on the stomach.
Being slightly more hydrated.
Yes, both tea and coffee contains caffeine naturally (herbal tisanes and decaffinated drinks aside). But tea contains less caffeine than coffee, so you will experience less of that caffeine jolt when drinking it. For some, lowering the caffeine consumption may be something recommended to you by your health care professional for a myriad of reasons. And cup for cup, you’ll consume less caffeine with tea than coffee which means less diuretic effects (and helps you stay hydrated).
If you’re the habitual multi-cup coffee per day drinker, how do you make that switch? Start by swapping out one cup of coffee for a cup of tea. Work your way up to no coffee and all tea, or keep that one-cup-a-day and feel good about yourself having transitioned the rest to tea.
It’s unrealistic to quit coffee cold turkey and go straight to tea – you’ll get caffeine withdrawals and the headaches to boot, and unless you’re in a serious health crisis, why do that to yourself? Make the gradual transition by just swapping out one cup a day for tea.
My tea recommendations for someone making the transition from coffee to tea are as follows:
Plain black coffee with English Breakfast or Assam black tea.
Swap your cafe au lait with black tea (Orange pekoe) with milk.
Pumpkin Spice Latte with a Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte.
Iced latte with Iced Hong Kong-Style Milk Tea.
Vanilla latte with a London Fog (Earl Grey Tea Latte).
Shot of espresso with a matcha shot.