Time for Tea Break: Herbal Tea VS Doughnuts

While the sugary goodness of a doughnut seems to be the obvious choice for a quick breakfast or snack, the harms of a doughnut far outweigh the momentary sweet thrill that your brain craves. On the other hand, while herbal tea may not be everyone’s number one choice, it will leave you feeling energetic, refreshed and optimised to do your best. Not only are herbal teas the healthier option, they come in a wide variety of flavours such that you would surely be able to find something that you like. Still thinking of herbal teas as weird concoctions of strange brown liquid that you might get from a TCM practitioner? Read on to open your mind to the natural sweetness of teas, especially floral ones, and the benefits they provide as opposed to the sweet deception of doughnuts.

1. Herbal Tea Increases Productivity

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Teas such as lemon tea help to detoxify your blood helping to stave off fatigue and lethargy. If your tiredness is due to poor sleep, teas with ingredients such as chamomile, valerian or lavender help to relax, leading to a better night of rest and better productivity in the morning. The sugar in doughnuts gives you energy in the form of empty calories. Empty calories are calories that do not provide you with any kind of nutrition – they are just plain energy. While this sounds amazing at about 3pm when you are trying to continue working or studying through your lethargy, it really does not benefit you much. The sugar found in doughnuts will give you a quick pick-me-up but it also leads to an inevitable sugar crash a few hours later. Herbal teas on the other hand do not work as quickly as sugar does but they target your body’s deficiencies and impact your overall health.

2. Herbal Tea Helps Stave off Sugar Addiction

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The truth is you won’t stop at one doughnut, would you? Once you have had one, you definitely get the urge to polish off the others in the box.  Poor self-control aside, there are scientific reasons for this craving. Consuming sugar releases the same chemical – dopamine – in the brain as taking drugs.  Since your brain feels rewarded by the sugar, it is no surprise that you begin to crave more and more of it. With increased sugar intake comes a whole host of problems such obesity and insulin resistance. Replace sugary food with a flavourful cup of tea and not only will you be reaping a whole slew of benefits, your craving for sugar will drastically decrease. With teas, there is no danger of addiction especially if you are careful to choose teas made of organic ingredients and with no added caffeine or sugar.

3. Herbal Tea Decreases The Risk of Heart Disease

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It has long been thought that saturated fat is the leading factor of clogged blood vessels but recent studies show that there is also a strong association between heart disease and added sugar consumption. The Havard Health Blog discusses a 15 year study on the effects of sugar on health and reports people who took more than 25% of their daily intake of calories as sugar are twice as likely to die from heart disease. While having a doughnut once in a while won’t kill you immediately, it is important to take note of your daily sugar consumption in order to stay in the pink of cardiovascular health. Teas such as green and white tea help to reduce the risks of such diseases.

4. Herbal Tea Gives You a Youthful Radiant Glow

Fortify your skin with specially selected teas made of ingredients such as rooibos, ginger and peppermint for clearing the skin and giving it a glow. Even though the chocolate-glazed-rainbow-sprinkled fried piece of heaven looks beautiful to you, once it passes through your mouth it is as not pretty and wrecks havoc on your skin. Sugary doughnuts cause a massive change in your blood sugar levels which leads to inflammation. This inflammation produces enzymes that break down collagen and elastin which means your skin is more likely to sag and wrinkle. The more sugar there is in your blood, the faster you age. Teas not only purify your blood, they can also help with your digestive system which in turn keeps your skin looking healthy.

For teas that can keep your youthful skin looking radiant, try the Ginger Rooibos Tea which contains a wealth of anti-inflammation properties!

5. Herbal Tea Does Not Harm Your Teeth

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With all the dangers of sugar looming in the horizon, you might forget about the immediate harm done to yourself. With the consumption of sugar, you are providing the bacteria in your mouth easy access to energy which in turn does not bode well for your oral health. Some tea ingredients such as ginger, cinnamon and lemongrass are anti-bacterial or anti-inflammatory work to decrease such problems.

You may think that herbal tea will never achieve the sweet pleasure that doughnuts provide, but there are some herbal teas, such as Nilufer Tea, which actually have the natural sweetness graced by the high quality ingredients within the unassuming sachet. With the benefits that herbal teas provide, our quality of health and life can increase and it is definitely worth it to include it into your diet. They definitely taste as good as they look!

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