Most Americans wake up in the morning with a cup of coffee and head out to take on their busy day. It keeps them awake and feeling more energized because of the caffeine. However most Americans overlook tea. I personally wake up in the morning with a cup of tea and feel just as fresh as my roommate who is a total coffee addict.

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Why is tea better than coffee? According to Harvard Health, tea contains substances linked to a lower risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes (all things everyone wants to stay away from). The main substance that lowers the risks of those conditions, is polyphenol. Lab and animal studies have concluded that those molecules contain anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that lower your risk for diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

Drinking tea regularly seems to have a positive impact on people’s lifestyle and their general health. According to this article, tea has been associated with a lower risk of depression and was proven in a 2015 meta-analysis of 11 studies gathering almost 23,000 people to participate in this study. It was concluded that for every three cups of tea consumed a day, the risk of depression decreased 37%. 

Not only does tea reduce the risk of depression, but it also reduces the risk of stroke. People who consume more than three cups of tea a day decreases their chances of getting a stroke by 21% than those who consumes less than a cup a day.

In a more recent meta-analysis (mentioned in this article), 22 prospective studies were looked at involving more than 850,000 people and concluded that drinking an additional three cups of tea daily would reduce the chances of getting a coronary heart disease by 27%, cardiac death by 26%, total mortality by 24%, cerebral infraction by 16%, and intracerebral hemorrhage by 21%.

Does it get any better? Well this article explains that green tea specifically is known to help lower cholesterol, both total serum and LDL. Most websites would suggest drinking five cups a day to see results and there have been multiple studies that prove the more tea consumed would lead to the biggest drop in cholesterol.

If you’re thinking about looking out for yourself when you’re in old age, drinking tea and making a habit of it would decrease the risk of dementia. A 2011 study concluded that tea acts on brain waves to sharpen your memory and increase your attention span if you start drinking tea early on in your life.

However, we can’t prove the causality just by this data since it was purely observational findings. But I can say that tea does have its perks and drinking it daily won’t hurt and might even give you long-term health benefits. I personally drink maybe 2-3 cups of tea a day. One in the morning, one after I get home from class, and then a nighttime tea to relax my mind before I head to sleep and call it a night. I find myself to be more calm when I drink tea everyday and it’s not as harmful as what people accuse coffee to be. Plus, I personally don’t enjoy the taste of coffee.