Take a short walk through Baker Lobby, and you are guaranteed to see a few cups of King Arthur Flour coffee. Coffee maintains a pervasive presence on most college campuses, especially at a college with such a high-pressure environment like Dartmouth. Students crave a daily rush of caffeine — understandable, considering the many late nights that many of them spend writing papers or doing multivariable calculus problem sets. Coffee is an integral part of Dartmouth’s culture. I, however, want to make a radical proposal — ditch the coffee and pick up a nice cup of tea instead.
There are a number of reasons to drink tea in place of coffee. Contrary to popular belief, tea will keep you energized longer than coffee will. Though caffeine content changes each time tea or coffee is brewed, an eight ounce cup of black tea has roughly half the caffeine as an eight ounce cup of coffee. Coffee, however, has a more significant depressing effect, eventually leading to a more extreme caffeine crash. Tea sustains your energy longer without the negative aftereffects once the caffeine begins to wear off. In addition to being more effective, tea also has greater health benefits. The abundance of antioxidants in tea is impressive, especially in green and black teas, which help to boost your overall health. Various studies show that tea can help prevent certain medical conditions, including cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure — benefits that are not shared by coffee. Polyphenols, chemicals found in black, white and green teas, are able to inhibit proteins that stimulate tumor cell growth, and two kinds of polyphenols — tannin and catechin — can prevent heart diseases. Catechin also lowers one’s risk of osteoporosis, another health benefit that drinking coffee does not provide.
In addition to the numerous health advantages, tea is more practical than coffee. Although coffee is more commonly associated with a fast-paced lifestyle while tea is reserved for leisurely nights by the fireplace, the latter is much easier and quicker to brew. While instant coffees exist, many people seem to prefer to make their coffee the traditional way. Waiting for a pot of coffee to brew through a coffee maker is more time-consuming than simply dunking a tea bag in hot water. Making some tea to go on the way to your 10A is quicker and cleaner than brewing your own coffee or waiting in line at KAF or Starbucks.
Additionally, tea is not only easier and healthier, but also helps your appearance more than coffee does. A 2000 study in the International Journal of Obesity stated that green tea extract makes it easier to burn calories and shed fat. The Institute of Physiology at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland conducted a study that revealed that green tea increased thermogenesis by approximately 28 to 77 percent. Thermogenesis is the creation of body heat that results from metabolization of food, and increased thermogenesis leads to more efficient burning of calories and allows for more effective weight loss. More than simply aiding healthy and effective weight loss, tea helps maintain better dental health than coffee. Tea contains a small amount of fluoride, which improves the state of your teeth rather than discoloring them like coffee does.
Tea can also aid your immune system by boosting your body’s ability to fight infection — something that everyone needs, especially in this wintry weather. According to a study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, certain components in tea help fight bacteria and viruses that could potentially harm the body and leave us in the questionably competent hands of Dick’s House.
Clearly, a cup of hot tea is brimming with more health benefits than a cup of steaming Joe. I am not suggesting that you completely eradicate coffee from your life, but simply consider integrating more tea into your daily routine instead of being unswervingly loyal to that cup of coffee.
