Don’t get too excited, coffee isn’t exactly a “health” drink but it is a good beverage choice. Make sure you’re drinking FILTERED coffee; the filter removes a substance called cafestol, which boosts “bad” cholesterol (LDL). Some Scandinavian coffee is made in French presses and is not filtered.

Diabetes: Twenty studies worldwide show that coffee, both regular and decaf, lowers the risk for Type 2 diabetes, in some studies by as much as 50%.

Heart disease and stroke: Recent studies suggest that frequent coffee consumption does not increase the risk of either condition. In fact, coffee might slightly reduce the risk of stroke. A study published in March in the journal Circulation looked at data on more than 83,000 women older than 24. It showed that those who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had a 19% lower risk of stroke than those who drank almost none. A Finnish study found similar results for men.

Liver Cancer: Research consistently shows a drop in liver cancer risk with coffee consumption, and there is some, albeit weaker, evidence that it may lower colon cancer risk as well.

Cirrhosis: Coffee seems to protect the liver against cirrhosis, especially that caused by alcoholism. It’s not clear, either for cancer or cirrhosis, whether it’s coffee or caffeine that may be protective.

While this is good news, I still maintain that tea is a healthier choice of drink. If you’re worried you’re drinking too much coffee, try simply cutting back. Replace a few cups of coffee a day with tea, or water if you don’t need the caffeine. Cutting coffee cold turkey can be hard. Like most things though, coffee is fine in moderation. It’s not going to hurt, and may even help a little.

Hopefully coffee drinkers can enjoy this new information, and their next cup with a little less guilt.

I understand that the large kick of caffeine is what is appealing about coffee. But, when all that caffeine and sugar starts to wear off it can leave you feeling drained. And most people’s solution to the coffee crash, more coffee of course. People with long work days find themselves ingesting a lot more caffeine (and sugar and fat in some cases) than is healthy for a single day. An 8 oz cup, coffee can have about 100 mg of caffeine where green tea only has about 20 mg of caffeine. The FDA suggests you keep from having any more than 200 – 300 mg of caffeine per day, depending on what report you find. Two cups of coffee gets you to that limit where as several cups of green tea still keeps you far from the limit and allows you to drink it all day.

Green tea is an amazingly healthy drink. It is full of flavonoids called polyphenols, which are antioxidants. A subgroup of these antioxidants, called catechins, are also abundant in green tea. One catechin in particular, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), is found only in tea and is one of the most powerful antioxidants known. They are 20 times stronger than Vitamin E.

- An article in New Scientist magazine mentions that numerous studies suggest that green tea protects against a range of cancers, including lung, prostate and breast cancer.

- Another study from the Life Science journal Carcinogenesis demonstrated that green tea, in combination with tamoxifen, is effective in suppressing breast cancer growth.

- Clinical trials indicate that green tea raises speeds your metabolism, fat oxidation and improves insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance.

- There is also a suggestion that it can increase endurance in exercise by improving fat metabolism.

- There is also evidence that drinking green tea and black tea may help prevent diabetes.

- A 2006 study showed that elderly Japanese people who consumed more than 2 cups of green tea a day had a 50 percent lower chance of having cognitive impairment, in comparison to those who drank fewer than 2 cups a day, or who consumed other tested beverages.

- University of Louisville researchers report that green tea polyphenols may stave off the cognitive deficits that occur with obstructive sleep apnea.

- The research, conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), found that drinking green and black varieties of teas has a significant impact on the risk of stroke.

Green tea is also considerably cheaper than coffee, and in these hard economic times not everyone can afford that pricey cup from Starbucks. Some people complain that they find the flavour of green tea too bland. This is not completely true,  because there are a hundreds of different varieties and flavours (vanilla, citrus, apricot, blueberry, etc..) of green tea to choose from. My suggestion is to try loose tea (not in a tea bag), the quality and freshness is generally better. There are tea shops everywhere and variety of online tea store options. A few sites I would recommend are Adagio, Samovar & Steeps Tea. Most shops and online retailers offer some sort started kit and a wide variety of teas.

The health benefits of tea are not limited to green alone; blacks, whites, and oolongs are comparable in their benefits. So what are you waiting for? Try tea today.