If the Afternoon Slump Hits You Hard, You're Going to Want to Drink This Instead of Coffee!

Ever feel like you've read the same sentence ten times but not comprehended any of it? Or maybe you find your eyelids getting really heavy in the middle of the afternoon as the morning buzz at the office slows down? Are you someone who gets up and paces, looking for something to eat, and grabs a coffee?

Sounds like you've hit those afternoon slumps!

Our instinctual reaction is to grab something sweet and coffee to pick us up and get us through the afternoon. But there are many reasons why you'll want to consider drinking green tea instead of coffee to help you over that slump! In fact, after you read this article, you may want to learn more about the connection between Coffee and Hormone Imbalances to help you seal the deal on making the switch! 

Did you know that green tea is considered a superfood? Currently, a lot of hype is going around about this antioxidant-rich substance due to its vast variety of health advantages. But before diving into further detail about its benefits, it is important to know what green tea is.

Green tea is produced from the Camellia sinensis plant. Its dried leaf and leaf buds are used to make several different teas, including oolong tea and black tea¹. The only difference between these teas is that green tea leaves are steamed immediately after harvest rather than drying.

Additionally, Green tea contains a high concentration of polyphenols, such as flavonoids and flavonols, which have many health benefits¹. Check out these AMAZING benefits!

Improves Mental Function

Drinking a beverage you love is an excellent choice for boosting your mood. Green tea is famous for its mood-boosting effects. Not only does green tea affect your mood, but it may also have beneficial effects on cognitive performance, such as enhanced memory, greater attentiveness, and less anxiety². Scientists believe caffeine in green tea contributes to these beneficial benefits; however, research is still going on. I really love drinking green tea during the week before my period to help me manage the mood swings and anxiety that I get during that time of the month.

Provides Protection Against Heart Disease

As we know green tea contains flavanols and flavanonols, which are together referred to as catechins³. Catechins offer a plethora of health advantages, including protection against degenerative illnesses such as heart disease.

In animal researches, catechins have been found to enhance antioxidant activity and alter lipid metabolism, which means they interfere with the way lipids, including cholesterol, are absorbed by the body⁴. However, the researchers emphasize that a significant quantity of green tea is required to produce these benefits in animal models.

Lowers the Risk of Cancer

Green tea is known to promote healthy cell growth at all developmental stages and some studies claim that green tea protects against cancer. For example, in animal studies, green tea extract has been proven to protect against carcinogens that may cause breast, liver, prostate, intestine, and lung cancer.

According to the reports, postmenopausal women who consumed two or more cups of green tea daily had a reduced incidence of urinary tract and digestive cancers compared to those women who consumed less green tea^5. Additionally, several studies have also discovered a link between green tea consumption and a decreased risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers⁶.

Although some research showed that green tea is effective against cancer, research is still going on. Therefore, you should not rely on green tea as a treatment option to treat cancer. Indeed, the National Cancer Institute's website states⁷ "makes no recommendation for or against the use of tea to lower the chance of developing any kind of cancer."

Fat Burning Properties

Green tea has fat-burning properties. According to the research, green tea can increase basal metabolic rate and increase fat burning⁸. This fat-burning property of green tea is due to Caffeine presence which is thought to increase physical performance by mobilizing fatty acids from adipose tissue and converting these fats into energy^9,10.

References

1. Cabrera, C., Artacho, R., & Giménez, R. (2006). Beneficial effects of green tea—a review. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 25(2), 79-99.

2. Kuriyama, S., Hozawa, A., Ohmori, K., Shimazu, T., Matsui, T., Ebihara, S., ... & Tsuji, I. (2006). Green tea consumption and cognitive function: a cross-sectional study from the Tsurugaya Project. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 83(2), 355-361.

3. Panche AN, Diwan AD, Chandra SR. Flavonoids: an overview. J Nutr Sci. 2016 Dec 29;5:e47. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5465813/.

4. Crespy V, Williamson G. A review of the health effects of green tea catechins in vivo animal models. J Nutr. 2004 Dec;134(12 Suppl):3431S-3440S. https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/134/12/3431S/4688690

5. Zheng W, Doyle TJ, Kushi LH, Sellers TA, Hong CP, Folsom AR. Tea consumption and cancer incidence in a prospective cohort study of postmenopausal women. Is J Epidemiol. 1996 Jul 15;144(2):175-82? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8678049/

6. Katiyar SK, Bergamo BM, Vyalil PK, Elmets CA. Green tea polyphenols: DNA photodamage and photoimmunology. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2001 Dec 31;65(2-3):109-14. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11809367/.

7. Green Tea. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/green-tea

8. Diepvens, K., Westerterp, K. R., & Westerterp-Plantenga, M. S. (2007). Obesity and thermogenesis are related to the consumption of caffeine, ephedrine, capsaicin, and green tea. American journal of physiology-Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology.

9. Magkos, F., & Kavouras, S. A. (2005). Caffeine use in sports, pharmacokinetics in man, and cellular mechanisms of action. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 45(7-8), 535–562. https://doi.org/10.1080/1040-830491379245.

10. Higgins, S., Straight, C. R., & Lewis, R. D. (2016). The Effects of Pre-exercise Caffeinated Coffee Ingestion on Endurance Performance: An Evidence-Based Review. International journal of sports nutrition and exercise metabolism, 26(3), 221–239. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2015-0147.