Coffee and Green Tea
Coffee has Pros and Cons
Energy and Brain function:
Caffeine can help with brain function and energy. However, it can be overused. If you are the type of person who pushes himself too much you may end up substituting coffee for sleep.
Some sources say that it may decrease the probability of dementia. Some say that it can decrease the probability of liver disease and type 2 diabetes.
Anti Oxidants:
Coffee does offer certain antioxidants which is good.
Acidity:
From what I have seen in my practice that worst thing about coffee is that it can be acidic. Acidic foods deplete your body of minerals. Yet this does not seem to affect everyone equally. I have seen people in my practice where when they drink coffee their urine pH becomes quite acidic and they do not feel well.
Others seem to do well with coffee and it does not affect acidity.
I have people test for acidity in their first morning urine. You want the pH to stay within 6.8 to 7.2. So try drinking coffee and test you pH for a week then try not drinking coffee and test your pH for a week and see if there is a significant difference. pH never stays exactly the same day to day, which is why you need to test for at least a week. We sell pH strips in this office. You might find them in a drug store. Make sure they range from 5.5 to 8.
Arabica beans versus Robusta beans:
While Arabica beans have less caffeine than Robusta, Robusta tastes bitter and has less of the good nutrients that you want in coffee.
Pesticides:
Coffee has a lot of pesticides and since it is grown outside the US the rules on pesticides are more relaxed. Only buy organic coffee.
Fungus and Mold:
“Sun grown” coffee is more likely to have fungus of mold. In a natural jungle setting coffee would be grown in the shade. However, for production reasons, coffee farmers grow coffee trees in evenly made rows, so it is no longer in the shade. This leads to fungus and mold issues and more.
If you want the details read this link.
You can get shade grown, organic, Arabica, Ethiopian coffee at Trader Joes.
For a higher quality and more fairness to farmers (but a higher price) try Café Christina.
So as long as coffee does not make you too acidic, get shade grown, organic, Arabica beans and you should be OK.
What Makes Coffee Bad:
When you load it with sugar and mild or half and half or a chemical non-dairy creamer, it becomes toxic.
If you want to get the most out of your coffee for health reasons drink it for breakfast with raw, organic, grass fed butter and MCT oil. Click here.
Green Tea has all the benefits of coffee but it is also more alkaline, which makes it the better choice from a health prospective. However, it does not give as much of a kick as coffee and you simply may not like it.
Keeping your blood at the right Ph is the body's highest priority.
Switching to Green Tea is a much better choice than coffee from that perspective.
Some benefits of Green Tea are:
Tea has more anti-oxidants than coffee.
Tea won't stain your teeth as badly as coffee.
Green Tea improves fat burning
There isn't the same coffee crash.
It may lower the risk of Breast, Prostate and Colon cancer.
It protects the brain.
The catechins in green tea have anti bacterial effects.
There is a Japanese study that green tea to lower risk of diabetes and a longer life. There are other studies that show a lower risk of cardio vascular disease.
Basically green tea has more benefits than coffee and it is also alkaline.
The only problem is that the energy burst is not close to that from coffee...until now.
The Japanese have been using matcha green tea powder. Instead of simply soaking the tea leaves in water you grind the tea leaves is a coffee grinder and dissolve the tea in water.
If you do this you will get all the properties of the tea. You get all the anti-oxidants, more alkalinity and the energy burst becomes equal to that of coffee.
You won't get that same energy crash that some people get after drinking coffee.
You can get this type of tea online or in any Japanese food store such as Tokyo Central in Costa Mesa.