You are looking for a drink to help you stay focused, and you are wondering: is black tea better for you than coffee? Let’s follow this article to find out.
Introduction
Black tea and coffee are both popular drinks today to boost your energy thanks to their caffeine content. However, each type has its own characteristics, health benefits, and downsides. In this article, FGC will provide useful information about these two beverages and support you to find out which is better for you.
Black tea, also called red tea in some regions, is made from leaves of Camellia sinensis plant. It is called black tea as dried tea leaves after being completely oxidized have a black color. When brewed, black tea has a distinctively reddish hue when brewed. Originating in China in the 17th century, black tea gradually spread around the world. Currently, black tea makes up for the highest rate in the global tea production and export.
Black tea is differentiated from other teas by its fermentation process. Thanks to the fermentation production, black tea may retain and become more flavorful with time, which allows it to be kept for many years without losing taste and aroma. There are many types of black tea, depending on its growing regions, cultivations, production methods, raw leaves classification, and so on.
Black tea is the most oxidized tea, so it has a unique taste and flavor, making it an ideal option for blending with other ingredients. Black tea is usually known as a high caffeine drink and used for alertness and energy. The caffeine content might vary depending on which types of black tea and how you brew it. Besides, it also contains numerous antioxidants, beneficial to human health. Generally, 1 cup (8 fl oz) of black tea, at about 237g, includes:
- Calories: 2.37 kcal
- Caffeine: 47 mg
- Carbohydrates: 0.711 grams
- Potassium: 87.7 mg
- Magnesium: 7.11 mg
- Sodium: 7.11 mg
Black tea is the most popular kind of tea in the world. Due to the complete oxidation of tea leaves, black tea has some different advantages when compared to other teas. During the oxidation process, theaflavins, a type of polyphenols, are developed, and they only exist in black tea. The benefits of tea mostly come from the distinctive antioxidants, polyphenols. So, how does black tea benefit?
Drinking black tea everyday is beneficial for human’s heart, as theaflavins might reduce blood cholesterol while flavonoids help lower the risk of heart disease. Besides, it may be an effective way to prevent stroke and decrease blood sugar levels, reducing type 2 diabetes’ risk. Because black tea contains caffeine and L-theanine, it can immediately boost our energy and improve alertness and focus. Additionally, the antioxidants in black tea protect us from some kinds of cancers.
Although black tea brings a lot of health benefits and is considered quite safe for almost everyone, drinking too much of it might lead to some issues. The side effects of black tea generally come from the caffeine content. While the amount of caffeine in a cup of black tea is not too much, if you consume a large amount, it might result in anxiety, difficulty sleeping, faster breathing, headache, and so on.
The history of coffee dates back to about the 15th century in Ethiopia and Yemen. Later, it was spread to Levant, Italya, India, and gradually to the rest of the world. Coffee has been used daily or to express hospitality to guests. The coffee houses appear everywhere as a place for enjoying, meeting, and hanging out. Coffee beans are the fruit of coffee plants, and it has been processed to develop numerous kinds of coffee today.