I've never been much of a coffee drinker. I'll force myself to swallow some during finals week, but it's really not my thing. As a college kid living in the twenty-first century, I got tired real quick of justifying why I prefer tea. After doing loads of Googling to aid my defense of "I don't like the taste," I found out drinking coffee comes with a pretty long list of cons. So to inform my homies and with a little bit of I-told-you-so up my sleeve, I put together this list of why you should swap your daily cup of joe for some tea.
Swapping your coffee for green tea can clear up your skin
Coffee can lead to skin dehydration, which can make your face appear blotchy and dull. Additional sweetening creamers and sugar that most people add to their daily coffee can “trigger acne flares." On the other hand, green tea delivers the caffeine without a side of cortisol, aka the thing in coffee that’s responsible for intensifying your acne and giving you rosacea.
Most people don’t put creamers in their tea so it’s usually more hydrating than coffee for your skin. Adjusting to the difference in caffeine levels might take a day or two, but I’d rather have a clear face than a palpitating heart. Peace the frick out acne.
Tea could aid cancer prevention
Tea has hella antioxidants. According to the National Cancer Institute, some of green tea’s antioxidants, specifically “polyphenol compounds” and theaflavins and thearubigins of black tea has potential cancer-fighting properties. These tea compounds may protect cells from DNA damage caused by cancer. Tea polyphenols slow and reduce tumor cell proliferation (aka tumor cells won’t grow and divide as much). Sorry about all that science jargon, but basically tea has stuff in it that can prevent cancer.
Coffee has some pretty gnarly side effects
Did you know that 200mg of coffee (which is less than a tall Starbucks serving) can cause heightened anxiety, sleep disruptions, abnormal heart rate, and jitters? Coffee can also lead to an upset stomach, nausea, and vomiting.
As far too many of us college students know, reducing your caffeine levels can lead to fatigue and headaches. Quitting coffee cold turkey can also cause lethargy and even flu-like symptoms. Switching to tea won’t mean you’ll forgo an occasional headache at the beginning while your body adapts to the lower caffeine levels, but it does mean that your psyche can take a break.
Admittedly, coffee does work wonders. We all need that friendly caffeine kick once in a while, but habitual coffee drinking has its undeniable downfalls. With coffee side effects and tea's miraculous components, making the switch is pretty appealing. So come on over to the dark side... we have herbal tea.