Mercola - Natural Health Products & Articles

The cold season is upon us and it’s nice to have a hot beverage ready to warm your body and spirit.

Coffee is the preferred hot beverage by more than half of American adults, which is no surprise because it is the most popular drink in the world.

Americans gulp down around 400 million cups per day (the worldwide consumption is around 400 billion cups each year), with U.S. coffee imports amounting to more than $4 billion annually.

Unfortunately, coffee isn’t the healthiest of drinks, osteopathic physician Joseph Mercola points out. Many coffee drinkers enjoy its flavor and the “caffeine high” that comes with every cup but few realize that coffee addiction can be dangerous to their health.

Here are Dr. Mercola’s top reasons why you should avoid drinking coffee:

•    has no nutritional value – ZERO vitamins, minerals or enzymes – and impairs the body’s ability to use folate and vitamins B6 and B12
•    places an enormous metabolic burden on your body
•    contains caffeine, which, Dr. Mercola believes, is a very powerful drug which should be avoided or severely limited
•    increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, leukemia and stomach cancer
•    is a diuretic (a substance which impairs the body’s ability to use water) and promotes fluid loss
•    is a heavily-sprayed crop – pesticides lead to a variety of health problems, including cancer and Parkinson’s disease

Tea, in recent years, has gained a reputation as one of the most popular health products and is seen as a healthier alternative to coffee.

Most types of tea provide health benefits but the two that Mercola recommends and personally uses are green tea and Tulsi tea.

Green tea is rich in an antioxidant compound called EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), which helps fight cancer cells, protect your brain and liver from oxidation, improve digestion, lower your cholesterol and blood pressure levels, and protect against Alzheimer’s disease, among other benefits.

Green tea also contains less caffeine than black tea, which also yields high levels of fluoride. Also, studies show that the caffeine found in tea contains theanine, a natural protein which counteracts the side effects of caffeine.

Tulsi tea, on the other hand, comes from Tulsi or Holy Basil, the principal herb of Ayurvedic medicine which has been used for hundreds of years in India because of its health promoting properties.

Tulsi is rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals, the combination of which, helps promote your health in a number of ways, including supporting your immune system, increasing your resistance to stress, promoting healthy metabolism, and providing bone and joint support.

But not all green tea and Tulsi tea are created equal. If you’re planning to start drinking tea, look for USDA-certified organic products. Mercola’s personal favorites are Royal Matcha Green Tea and Organic India Tulsi Teas. These two premium products are among the highest quality teas you can find and are guaranteed to deliver the amazing health benefits of green tea and Tulsi.

It’s time to break free from coffee and drink something health-TEA-er!