This might not sound like that big of a deal, but a few home-brewed cups of coffee in the morning followed by a latte in the afternoon is my daily caffeine M.O. I rarely go a day without any sort of coffee. But over the course a few weeks, I found myself in multiple conversations with people about why they made the switch to tea—my mom, who said it helped her sleep better, and also a few coworkers who had temporarily given up coffee because it made them feel anxious during the day. Since I spend a lot of my day poring over studies about health and nutrition, I'm well aware of the health benefits of green tea. So I decided to switch from coffee to great tea for a week and see how it went.
First, I consulted Brigitte Zeitlin, R.D., C.D.N, and owner of BZ Nutrition, for some facts and tips. She warned me that coffee has a lot more caffeine than green tea (about 100 milligrams in an eight-ounce cup compared to about 30 milligrams you'd get in green tea). However, Zeitlin added, green tea also has an amino acid, I-theanine, that has been linked to improved alertness, which can help with productivity and focus, minus the jitters. I was curious to see if that were the case for me.
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Other benefits of tea she mentioned are its plentiful antioxidants (more than coffee) that can help fight off inflammation and chronic illnesses. Zeitlin also said that making the switch won’t result in headaches from caffeine withdrawal, which can happen from just giving up coffee altogether (thanks to that amino acid again).
With all that in mind, it was time to get started. Here's what I learned:
Brewing tea is harder than I thought it was.
I decided to start my experiment on a Saturday morning, thinking that would be the easiest way to ease into it—I wouldn’t be rushing out the door to work or struggling through an afternoon without my usual coffee buzz. I made the right decision on both of those accounts. My first attempt, using Pure Leaf’s Green Tea with Mint ($5, target.com), wasn’t so hot—literally. I used hot water from the sink instead of boiling water. And when it barely tasted like anything, I figured that was a mistake, and I made a second attempt (this is why I’m glad I wasn’t in a hurry to get out the door). That second round had a stronger taste and color than the first round. I also discovered throughout the week that I prefer loose-leaf tea to sachets, because I can customize the strength of the flavor more easily.
When you're not drinking tea, here's how to stay hydrated all day:
I felt that caffeine withdrawal HARD.
On the first day of this green-tea experiment, my boyfriend and I were driving upstate for a weekend getaway. By noon that day during the drive, my eyelids were drooping hard. (Thankfully, I was not the one driving.) The only positive there was that I had no trouble falling asleep that night, but I wasn’t sure that perk was worth my drowsy day. The next day was a little better—I still was not handling the decrease in caffeine well, especially on the hikes we took during our trip. Usually exercise helps perks me up—but without coffee, I was still struggling. However, this improved as the week progressed. By the fifth day, I think I was actually less anxious and jittery than I usually am at work with coffee. But it was a rough (and sleepy) few days to get there!
Green tea is definitely an acquired taste.
I love the taste of coffee. So switching to green tea was not just an adjustment in energy but one in flavors, too. My early attempts at brewing tea left something to be desired in the flavor department, so I tried different varieties of the stuff throughout the week.
Just like coffee, there's lots of different variations of green tea. Some of them I loved, like David’s Tea’s Green Passionfruit (from $10, davidstea.com), which was fruity and tangy without tasting too sweet and sugary. However some of them—like the green tea latte I tried, and the two different kinds of iced green tea I sampled through the week—I was definitely NOT into. I missed the flavor of my coffee. But once I found the type of tea that I liked the most, I was a lot more amenable to green tea in general. (We also like this herbal muscle and joint tea from the Women's Health Boutique!)
My coffee habit was pretty ingrained.
Confession time: One day during this week, I got coffee. It was an honest mistake! I was ordering a bagel, and bagels and coffee go together like, well, bagels and coffee. Come on, there’s even a whole dating app named after this delicious duo! But quickly after I ordered and realized my mistake, I turned back to ask the cashier to make my latte decaf so that I at least wouldn’t mess up that part of my experiment. My coffee habit really is that—a habit that I found pretty tricky to break.
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The verdict:
This week actually taught me a lot. First, I learned how dependent I had become on caffeine every day, so I’ve actually started having decaf coffee more on weekends, proving that I like coffee beyond its caffeine perks—I love its stronger flavor, too. Second, I’m happy I tried several different kinds because, like most food and drink, I discovered which ones I’m into and which ones I’ll never order again (not even as a backup to coffee).
Tea won’t become my new morning staple, but I might consider it on some afternoons instead of coffee. So overall, I learned that I’m just a coffee kind of person, and I’m okay with that. At least I satisfied that curiosity.
