November 19, 2017 | Category: Bariatric Surgery, Blog, Eating Tips, Healthy Food Choices

You don’t have to give up your favorite coffee and tea drinks, they actually help you lose weight.

Aside from plain water, coffee and tea are the most enjoyed drinks in the world. Both have health benefits, are a great way to reconnect with friends.

Coffee

The beans grow on flowering trees found in more than 50 countries around the world, including the U.S. and of course, Hawaii. They’re roasted, ground, then boiled, dripped, steamed, or soaked to make coffee, depending on where you live and how you like it.

Tea

More than 2/3 of the world’s people drink tea, which is made from the leaf of a bush called Camellia sinensis. You steep the leaves in steaming hot water for a few minutes then serve the tea hot or over ice, – quick, easy, and full of healthy positives.

Tea makers dry and crush the leaves to bring out their oils, exposing them to air for a certain amount of time, depending on the kind of tea they want to make. This process is called, “fermentation” – and it’s a chemical reaction that affects the flavor of the leaves and turns them brown.

But There Are Like… a Thousand Different Teas: What’s the Difference?

Tea makers dry and crush tea leaves to bring out their oils, fermenting them, which turns the leaves brown, and affects the flavors.

The longer they’re exposed, the more caffeine they have.

Green tea uses leaves that haven’t been fermented at all, which is why it has almost no caffeine. Oolong uses leaves that have been fermented for a certain amount of time, while black tea leaves are fermented the longest.

The Basics

Combat what are know as ‘free radicals’ with coffee and tea. Free radicals can damage your cells and lead to disease and illness – your body makes them when it turns specific foods into energy, when sunlight hits your skin, or from certain things you eat or drink.

Tea and coffee help your body fight free radicals with chemicals of their own called antioxidants.

Type 2 Diabetes


Both tea and coffee are linked to a lower risk of Type 2, which affects how your body uses blood sugar (glucose) for fuel.

Coffee has lots of a certain antioxidants that helps keep your blood sugar, while tea may help your body process sugar in your blood.

Heart Disease


In a study, people who drank 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day were less likely to have a buildup of calcium in the vessels that bring blood to your heart muscle. This helps fight heart disease.

Liver Disease


Drinking 3 or more cups of coffee a day can lower your odds of having chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer – and it may be an alternative medicine for people who have those issues.

Coffee has more than 100 different chemical compounds in it, and scientists are trying to figure out what they do and how they might work together to help your liver.

Stroke


This happens when blood is cut off from a certain area of your brain, and a cup of coffee or tea a day might lower your chances of having one. This can be because coffee can ease inflammation and help control your blood sugar levels. And drinking black tea is linked to lower blood pressure, which can make you less likely to have a stroke.

Cancer


Coffee and green tea can help prevent breast and prostate cancers, while many different kinds of tea may protect you against the kinds of cancer that affect the ovaries and stomach.

Researchers think antioxidants in tea, including ones called polyphenols, are to thank for this!

Alzheimer’s Disease


This disease attacks your brain’s neurons – it can cause memory loss and changes in thought patterns and behavior. Coffee has antioxidants help protect neurons, and green tea has some that may help prevent the clusters of proteins believed to cause the disease.

Weight Loss


If you drink low-calorie beverages like coffee and tea instead of sugary ones, you may find it’s easier to lose weight. They can give you a satisfying pick-me-up with almost no calories. Of course, that doesn’t work if you add a bunch of sugar and cream — so stick with the basic brew.

Just Because Coffee and Tea Have Awesome Health Benefits, You Can’t Overdo It

Despite the health benefits of coffee and tea, too much caffeine can make you anxious or irritable and make it hard to sleep. It also can make you less able to hold onto calcium, which can lead to bone fractures.

Do you need nutrition help? Contact Western Bariatric Institute and talk to our patient advocate.