In our highly caffeinated world, coffee is king. Americans consume more coffee than any other non-alcoholic beverage besides water, according to statistics 2020with around 60% of people drinking it daily.
Love it or hate it – and many of us do both, at the same time – there’s no denying that we just can’t stop the thing. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In the past, some researchers feared that coffee and caffeine increased the risk of health problems like cancer and heart disease, leading many people to fear that coffee was bad for their health.
As it turns out, that hype was overblown, says Chris Mohr, Ph.D. “The truth is, coffee is a part of the whole diet,” he says. “And most studies show, within reason, that it has very many health benefits.”
In fact, drinking 3-5 standard cups of coffee each day has been linked to lower risk of chronic diseases, according to a review published in July 2020 in The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found that coffee consumption was linked to a lower risk of melanoma, prostate cancer, heart disease and stroke. Additionally, coffee also contains antioxidants, which help fight harmful free radicals and may also improve your gut health.
The downside, of course, is that caffeine can make you jittery, especially if you’re sensitive to it. This is where coffee alternatives come in. These infusions, made with mushrooms, chicory root or other ingredients, “contain little or no caffeine, as well as other beneficial ingredients,” says Mohr.
However, it’s important to keep your expectations in check: “Sure, they can be great, but they’re not the shandy superfoods we need to go all out,” he says. Remember: a cup of coffee is…just a cup of coffee – a few dandelion shreds here and chaga mushroom extract there aren’t likely to drastically change your health.
Whether you’re looking to kick your caffeine habit or you’re just tired of waking up to the same old drip brew, we’ve rounded up five coffee alternatives to get your morning started, minus the after-hours crash. midday.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and uploaded to this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content on piano.io