Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world and it does a variety of things to help us get ready to take on the day. Coffee helps with mental performance, it is loaded with antioxidants, and can even help increase your metabolism. But is it the healthiest option available? Here are five healthy alternatives to getting your caffeine fix:
The first alternative is wheatgrass juice. This is not necessarily the best tasting alternative, however there are multiple health benefits to ingesting wheatgrass. The wheatgrass plant contains high concentrations of chlorophyll, active enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, and other nutrients. Mixing wheatgrass juice with various other greens could help with the potent smell and with the strong taste. However, if you can get past the smell and taste of wheatgrass juice, it has all the benefits (plus multiple vitamins and nutrients) of a regular cup of jo.
For those who cannot get over wheatgrass’ potent taste and smell, there is another juice that is more appealing to the palate- pomegranate juice. Pomegranate juice is full of antioxidants and different energizers. Unlike wheatgrass, which provides limited ways to mix and ingest, pomegranate juice can be incorporated in to multiple beverage recipes.
If you’re looking for the caffeine kick without sacrificing the health benefits associated with coffee, consider looking into Vemma drinks. Vemma Verve is one of the few healthy energy drinks on the market, and was founded by owner, Bk Boreyko. The Vemma verve energy drink contains the same amount of caffeine found in your average cup of coffee – about 80 mg.
If you enjoy tea, the next two alternatives to coffee are for you. Green tea can give you the morning boost you need, doing so with lesser amounts of caffeine so you won’t experience any of the jitters that you would normally feel with coffee. Just as appealing, to green tea drinkers, is the vast amount of health benefits individuals experience, including: helping lower cholesterol, promoting longevity, burning fat, and boosting metabolism.
The other alternative of the “tea-persuasion” is black tea. While black tea does not quite have the amount of caffeine that coffee does (black tea: 40-120 milligrams, coffee: 95-200 milligrams), it still has more caffeine than green tea. Even certain studies over the years have established that there is a direct relationship between increased black tea consumption and a decrease in cardiovascular disease.
If after these four alternatives you still cannot stop yourself from frequenting the local Starbucks, then try ordering a chai latte your next time in. A chai latte has comparable caffeine levels to that of black tea, but at the same time it provides a spiced flavor. This combination of flavor, lower caffeine levels, and similar health benefits to black tea makes the chai latte one of the most popular alternatives to coffee out there.
Obviously there are more alternatives to your morning coffee to choose from, but with all five of these alternatives they provide multiple health benefits while not creating a dependency problem.