Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.

Drinking tea is a better choice

2

Replies

  • heiliskrimsli
    heiliskrimsli Posts: 735 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    For you, this might be the case, so it's a pretty good reason to avoid it. For other people triple that amount does next to nothing. I drink 3 cups of coffee per day, more when my migraines are troubling me as the caffeine helps me absorb the pain meds faster, meaning I'll need less of them. Nothing like pain medication washed down with a shot of espresso.

    Caffeine is also a mild vasoconstrictor and since vascular pressure in the head can be a component of migraine headache pain, the effect helps. My migraine specialist said if I can stand to drink coffee with a migraine, go for it.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    I usually drink cold water or cold unsweetened tea. I like both.
    I sometimes drink unsweetened hot tea. There are lots of flavors to choose from.
    I don't believe tea has properties that help me lose weight other than not drinking calories.
    Some tea has caffeine. You might want to avoid that if you get headaches.

    It may not help you lose weight, but as a beverage, it helps you keep fit.
    Don't drink much strong tea if you're afraid of caffeine.

    How specifically would tea help you keep fit? Do you mean it helps you perform better in exercise/athletics if you drink tea vs another beverage? If so what is your source of that information?

    People have reasons other than fear to limit or avoid caffeine. Not everyone may be aware that tea can also have caffeine. There are a lot of caffeine free herbal teas- which is what I favor. If you want caffeine there are teas with more caffeine. http://www.teavana.com/us/en/discover.

    If you enjoy tea why does it have to be better than another beverage?
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I drink liters of tea every day because I've always loved tea. I loved it when I was morbidly obese and I still love it now. It will never replace water for me, though. I can't wrap my mind around comparing water to anything else because it's a whole different category for me. I drink tea because I like it and I drink water when I'm thirsty. The two don't mix for me. I'm never going to use a hot drink for thirst...
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    For me, I fill a 32oz travel mug with hot water and throw in a single tea bag, then I keep refilling with hot water. I find it easier to sip this weak tea flavored water than straight cold or hot water. For caffeine, I pound down regular coffee.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I drink liters of tea every day because I've always loved tea. I loved it when I was morbidly obese and I still love it now. It will never replace water for me, though. I can't wrap my mind around comparing water to anything else because it's a whole different category for me. I drink tea because I like it and I drink water when I'm thirsty. The two don't mix for me. I'm never going to use a hot drink for thirst...

    Finally! I feel the same way. I drink tea when i feel like tea and plain water when when I'm thirsty. I also drink Litres of tea, and coffee... But neither replace plain old water.
    I can tell a difference when i drink my usual amount of tea and no plain water, compared to when i also finish my 2-3L water bottle.
  • dfwesq
    dfwesq Posts: 592 Member
    Different kinds of teas also have some nutritional and health benefits, and that's something to consider as well. Here's an article: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tea-types-and-their-health-benefits#1

    Also, some people seem to eat out of boredom, and something flavorful but low-calorie like tea or coffee may help with that.
  • 4homer
    4homer Posts: 457 Member
    I can't stand tea. Any kind. Different strokes for different folks. I'm happy with my coffee (sweetener and milk) and diet pop and water.
  • Sivadee00
    Sivadee00 Posts: 428 Member
    edited May 2017
    To be honest, I have been fortunate enough to find teas that do more than hydrate me.

    I went to a fair some years ago and bought a tea, from a vendor, to help me sleep. I wanted off sleeping pills. The tea worked. I slowly went off the tea and started a normal sleeping rhythm again.

    Also, there is a brand I use called Traditional Medicine's and their laxative tea (smooth move) does better than any prescriptions or harsh pills. They have a variety of other teas that do other things. No, they don't taste very savory or sweet but they got the job done. :smile:
  • TaraTaraTara76
    TaraTaraTara76 Posts: 89 Member
    I was never a tea drinker but this year; at age 40, I became one. I love yogi brand teas and they help suppress my appetite.
  • JeepHair77
    JeepHair77 Posts: 1,291 Member
    You can pry my coffee out of my cold, dead hands.
  • sylkates
    sylkates Posts: 173 Member
    edited May 2017
    Black tea tastes better than black coffee from most places. It's easier to prepare (pour hot water over tea, no filter or machine needed). It's more mellow and its lower caffeine amount can be taken later in the day. It's more hydrating per milligram of caffeine. It doesn't cause the GI issues that only medium amounts of coffee cause me.

    I used to be a huge coffee addict. But for all of these reasons, and the reason that the free coffee in my office is disgusting, I switched to tea for most of my caffeine intake.
  • sylkates
    sylkates Posts: 173 Member
    edited May 2017
    zyxst wrote: »
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    I usually drink cold water or cold unsweetened tea. I like both.
    I sometimes drink unsweetened hot tea. There are lots of flavors to choose from.
    I don't believe tea has properties that help me lose weight other than not drinking calories.
    Some tea has caffeine. You might want to avoid that if you get headaches.

    It may not help you lose weight, but as a beverage, it helps you keep fit.
    Don't drink much strong tea if you're afraid of caffeine.

    How will drinking tea keep me fit?

    I mean, it's not magic. But I find that caffeine helps give me energy for after-work cardio. And tea doesn't keep me up the same way coffee I have after 4pm does.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    ...
    I like coffee. I drink coffee.

    ...

    I think this might be the first time I've ever seen/heard someone from England admit to liking coffee. Virtually everyone I've talked to refers to it as sludge.

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I enjoy drinking tea whether I'm trying to lose weight or not. Tea (real tea) is fairly acidic though and can cause stomach problems in some people, especially on an empty stomach.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    I enjoy drinking tea whether I'm trying to lose weight or not. Tea (real tea) is fairly acidic though and can cause stomach problems in some people, especially on an empty stomach.

    Hijack warning! My grandson enjoys drinking tea with me when he visits, and we make tea from teabags (because I'm not wasting expensive golden dragon tea on a 4 year old who puts ice cubes in his cup). Last Sunday he wanted to know what was in the teabags so we cut one open. Um, black powder. I ended up making some "real" tea in a glass cup so he could watch the leaves unfold. I'm pretty sure he's not going to be settling for the cheap stuff from now on :/ /end hijack. Carry on.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited May 2017
    dfwesq wrote: »
    Different kinds of teas also have some nutritional and health benefits, and that's something to consider as well. Here's an article: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tea-types-and-their-health-benefits#1

    Also, some people seem to eat out of boredom, and something flavorful but low-calorie like tea or coffee may help with that.

    to get any of those healthful properties you would have to consume a LOT of tea.it didnt reduce my cholesterol levels or help my grandpa with his parkinsons/ alzheimers(he drank a lot of tea) and my grandma(his wife) drank a lot of tea too and she had dementia. web md isnt a real reliable source,even though it has MD in the name. one day I am sure studies will prove any benefits will be very minimal at best.
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    I enjoy drinking tea whether I'm trying to lose weight or not. Tea (real tea) is fairly acidic though and can cause stomach problems in some people, especially on an empty stomach.

    Hijack warning! My grandson enjoys drinking tea with me when he visits, and we make tea from teabags (because I'm not wasting expensive golden dragon tea on a 4 year old who puts ice cubes in his cup). Last Sunday he wanted to know what was in the teabags so we cut one open. Um, black powder. I ended up making some "real" tea in a glass cup so he could watch the leaves unfold. I'm pretty sure he's not going to be settling for the cheap stuff from now on :/ /end hijack. Carry on.

    Warning: Hijack continuation :wink:

    @mph323

    I had a similar situation with my niece (she was about the same age). I solved it by telling her it was a 'special occasion' tea and not meant to be drunk on a daily basis (so birthday or such). Since she only ever saw me drink the normal tea bag tea when she was around, she accepted that explanation quite readily.

    They don't live near my anymore (so no more drinking tea together), but from what my brother told me, she still will only drink the good loose-leaf tea on special occasion and insists that everyday tea should be in a tea bag because the other tea is special and drinking it every day will make it 'not special'. I think my SIL must be cursing me even though I indirectly helped them cut costs.

    You gotta love kids :tongue:
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    <3 That is so sweet!
  • Treece68
    Treece68 Posts: 780 Member
    Tea is terrible for your body it actually slows down your ... JK I have no idea but I love tea hot or cold, with honey or lemon. I like to blend black tea and fruit teas together in the summer so I get the caffeine and the flavor. YUM. Sometimes tea give me heartburn, but what doesn't.
  • dfwesq
    dfwesq Posts: 592 Member
    dfwesq wrote: »
    Different kinds of teas also have some nutritional and health benefits, and that's something to consider as well. Here's an article: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tea-types-and-their-health-benefits#1

    Also, some people seem to eat out of boredom, and something flavorful but low-calorie like tea or coffee may help with that.

    to get any of those healthful properties you would have to consume a LOT of tea.it didnt reduce my cholesterol levels or help my grandpa with his parkinsons/ alzheimers(he drank a lot of tea) and my grandma(his wife) drank a lot of tea too and she had dementia. web md isnt a real reliable source,even though it has MD in the name. one day I am sure studies will prove any benefits will be very minimal at best.
    I wouldn't expect medicinal effects from a food, even a really nutritious one. But green, white, or black teas do seem to have some beneficial properties. In this case, the scientific literature agrees that there seem to be a number of health benefits.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4055352/
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855614/
    https://nccih.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/092110.htm

    There are also many herbal teas and those may have their own benefits, which would vary by what the ingredients are (e.g., chamomile tea).
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16628544
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    Does anyone enjoy drinking tea when you're on a diet? Compared with cold water, tea is more tasty. Besides, tea without sugar is zero-calorie, so it's better than those sweeten drinks if you don't intend to put on weight. Also, hot tea is much more stomach-friendly than black coffee. I used to drink coffee to accelerate metabolism and blood circulation, but two cups of coffee can cause palpitations and headaches. Then I found tea is a better choice, aside from suppressing my appetite and stimulating my satiety, tea also helps boost my metabolic rate. Having a cup of tea before a meal helps a lot when I want to eat less food. Most improtantly, with 3-4 cups of tea a day, I have less desire about junk foods.

    As pertains to the OP:
    I drink tea (hot) throughout the day, with splenda and lemon. I like the taste and am likely to drink a lot more of it than I would water, since I only prefer water when I'm feeling thirsty, which I generally don't. It may be more stomach-friendly and tastier for you, but it's incorrect to extend your personal experience to the general population. I drink coffee in the morning, for instance, and the effect is no different on my stomach than tea. I don't find it healthier than water, just more appealing, since I've been fat, skinny, healthy and not-so-healthy during the years I've been drinking it. <shrug>
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    dfwesq wrote: »
    dfwesq wrote: »
    Different kinds of teas also have some nutritional and health benefits, and that's something to consider as well. Here's an article: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/tea-types-and-their-health-benefits#1

    Also, some people seem to eat out of boredom, and something flavorful but low-calorie like tea or coffee may help with that.

    to get any of those healthful properties you would have to consume a LOT of tea.it didnt reduce my cholesterol levels or help my grandpa with his parkinsons/ alzheimers(he drank a lot of tea) and my grandma(his wife) drank a lot of tea too and she had dementia. web md isnt a real reliable source,even though it has MD in the name. one day I am sure studies will prove any benefits will be very minimal at best.
    I wouldn't expect medicinal effects from a food, even a really nutritious one. But green, white, or black teas do seem to have some beneficial properties. In this case, the scientific literature agrees that there seem to be a number of health benefits.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4055352/
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855614/
    https://nccih.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/092110.htm

    There are also many herbal teas and those may have their own benefits, which would vary by what the ingredients are (e.g., chamomile tea).
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16628544

    the first link also says this-To evaluate the efficacy of tea against cancer, clinical trials are being conducted. Encouraging data from many trials are available and from many ongoing trials are awaited. However, results from human studies are not always positive, may be, due to the fact that the higher doses of tea are used in animal studies than those consumed by humans and in animal studies, the experimental conditions are generally optimized for the evaluation of a protective effect

    second one says this-Laboratory studies showed the health effects of green tea. As the human clinical evidence is still limited, future research needs to define the actual magnitude of health benefits, establishes the safe range of tea consumption associated with these benefits, and elucidates the mechanisms of action. Development of more specific and sensitive methods with more representative models along with the development of good predictive biomarkers will give a better understanding of how green tea interacts with endogenous systems and other exogenous factors. Definitive conclusions concerning the protective effect of green tea have to come from well-designed observational epidemiological studies and intervention trials. The development of biomarkers for green tea consumption, as well as molecular markers for its biological effects, will facilitate future research in this area.

    so basically there arent enough human studies done to know what effect that teas have on these things,or on health.so these studies are saying basically they dont arent sure what the benefits really are. they assume,but arent sure.
  • dfwesq
    dfwesq Posts: 592 Member
    so basically there arent enough human studies done to know what effect that teas have on these things,or on health.so these studies are saying basically they dont arent sure what the benefits really are. they assume,but arent sure.
    Not exactly. You're quoting parts that are focusing on the feasibility of tea as a medicine. To do that, they need to determine which components of tea are causing the desired effects, how much is needed to produce those effects, and whether a medicinal level dose would be safe.

    There's no real question tea as a drink has health benefits though. E.g., from the first article, "Currently, there are 1000 scientific publications in the scientific literature found on PubMed documenting cancer preventive ability of tea." And from the second (the part you quoted, in fact), "Laboratory studies showed the health effects of green tea."

  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    dfwesq wrote: »
    so basically there arent enough human studies done to know what effect that teas have on these things,or on health.so these studies are saying basically they dont arent sure what the benefits really are. they assume,but arent sure.
    Not exactly. You're quoting parts that are focusing on the feasibility of tea as a medicine. To do that, they need to determine which components of tea are causing the desired effects, how much is needed to produce those effects, and whether a medicinal level dose would be safe.

    There's no real question tea as a drink has health benefits though. E.g., from the first article, "Currently, there are 1000 scientific publications in the scientific literature found on PubMed documenting cancer preventive ability of tea." And from the second (the part you quoted, in fact), "Laboratory studies showed the health effects of green tea."

    but the studies state that not enough studies were done on humans.while its possible it has some health benefits,what they actually are and how much you would have to consume has not really been reported. if it ws a cancer preventative then anyone I know who drank a lot of tea and had cancer(my mother in law being one of them) wouldnt have developed cancer.if you are going to get cancer you are going to get cancer, there is nothing so far that has been proven to prevent it.would be nice if there were. but any of the people I know that died from having cancer (my gandpa also had skin cancer) wouldnt have died from it. Im sure there are many more people out there who drink/drank a lot of tea who have or had cancer.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
    Tea purists may hate me for this, but I really like Celestial Seasoning's Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride herbal tea. It's one of the winter/holiday varieties in the store, but you can get it year round on their website. It's great for a sweet craving, even without adding in any kind of sweetener.

    My tea collection rivals that scene in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, where the female lead is rambling off tons of made up varieties of tea, only I actually have that many, lol. In the summer, I love Teavana's strawberry grapefruit blend, brewed in the fridge, and iced mint tea. In winter, I basically drink herbal teas all afternoon.

    I drink 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning, and switch to caffeine free/herbal around noon. As far as health properties are concerned? I think it's all pretty negligible in a vacuum. Unless you're eating an overall well balanced diet, you're not going get some magical benefit from any one substance, tea included. If you like it, and it helps you hydrate, and you feel better, enjoy it! Same goes if you prefer other drinks!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Taste is subjective. I hate the taste of tea AND coffee. I'll stick to water and diet soda.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Taste is subjective. I hate the taste of tea AND coffee. I'll stick to water and diet soda.

    Blasphemer!
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    DamieBird wrote: »
    Tea purists may hate me for this, but I really like Celestial Seasoning's Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride herbal tea. It's one of the winter/holiday varieties in the store, but you can get it year round on their website. It's great for a sweet craving, even without adding in any kind of sweetener.

    My tea collection rivals that scene in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, where the female lead is rambling off tons of made up varieties of tea, only I actually have that many, lol. In the summer, I love Teavana's strawberry grapefruit blend, brewed in the fridge, and iced mint tea. In winter, I basically drink herbal teas all afternoon.

    I drink 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning, and switch to caffeine free/herbal around noon. As far as health properties are concerned? I think it's all pretty negligible in a vacuum. Unless you're eating an overall well balanced diet, you're not going get some magical benefit from any one substance, tea included. If you like it, and it helps you hydrate, and you feel better, enjoy it! Same goes if you prefer other drinks!

    It's fine. All teas are beautiful. No matter if it's pure tea leaves, leaves and fruit pieces or even teas with aromas added.
    Hell, I have a baked apple one that has stevia in it to make it sweet.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Taste is subjective. I hate the taste of tea AND coffee. I'll stick to water and diet soda.

    But... there's so many kinds! Surely there has to be one that is to your taste? It's like saying "I don't like vegetables" as if they're all the same.
This discussion has been closed.