Caffeine sources: Why is coffee good, but tea bad? Where is yerba mate in this? How about caffeine pills?

[marko9437]

Coffee seems to be popular in the community and with Danny Roddy and late Ray Peat, but tea isn't. How come? What's the difference? Why is one a good caffeine source but the other is not?

Where is yerba mate in this? I don't like coffee, would mate be a suitable alternative?

How about caffeine pills? Is there any reason to drink those?

 

[AlaskaJono]

Coffee seems to be popular in the community and with Danny Roddy and late Ray Peat, but tea isn't. How come? What's the difference? Why is one a good caffeine source but the other is not?

Where is yerba mate in this? I don't like coffee, would mate be a suitable alternative?

How about caffeine pills? Is there any reason to drink those?

If you don't like coffee, then don't force yourself to drink it mate! Coffee has other aspects besides caffeine to offer support for metabolism, and in my opinion, and in that respect so does tea or yerba maté. Do it in such a fashion that you are supporting your overall metabolism is my advice. Cheers.

 

[marko9437]

Yea, I don't like the taste of coffee so I never bothered, I like the taste of tea so I drink it. Then I come on this forum and the mood seems to be very anti-tea, but it doesn't seem clear to me why.

If anything the two seem to share the one ingredient that most people drink coffee for, so what's the deal with that.

 

[AlaskaJono]

Yea, I don't like the taste of coffee so I never bothered, I like the taste of tea so I drink it. Then I come on this forum and the mood seems to be very anti-tea, but it doesn't seem clear to me why.

If anything the two seem to share the one ingredient that most people drink coffee for, so what's the deal with that.

Marko, do utilize the search function of this site. It is a very good tool. Just a suggestion.

1) Coffee has been shown to reduce iron from eating a red meat diet (consume after a meal or ?)
2) Coffee may lower phosphate

RP: "When there is more carbon dioxide in the body fluids, calcium carbonate can be deposited in the bones (Messier, et al., 1979). Increased carbon dioxide could account for a prolonged negative phosphate balance, by taking its place in the bones in combination with calcium and magnesium. Another important effect of carbon dioxide is in the regulation of both calcium and phosphate, by increasing the absorption and retention of calcium (Canzanello, et al., 1995), and by increasing the excretion of phosphate. . . . The foods naturally highest in phosphate, relative to calcium, are cereals, legumes, meats, and fish. Many prepared foods contain added phosphate. Foods with a higher, safer ratio of calcium to phosphate are leaves, such as kale, turnip greens, and beet greens, and many fruits, milk, and cheese. Coffee, besides being a good source of magnesium, is probably helpful for lowering phosphate, by its antagonism to adenosine (Coulson, et al., 1991). Although increased phosphate generally causes vascular calcification (increasing rigidity, with increased systolic blood pressure), when a high level of dietary phosphate comes from milk and cheese, it is epidemiologically associated with reduced blood pressure (Takeda, et al., 2012)."

There are probably other aspects of the coffee chemistry that are awesome, so others may chime in. Besides daily coffee consumption, I like tea and maté myself, but lately only drink some black or green tea a week, usually as a social thing.

 

[strongvirtue]

Hi guys, I remember Ray talking about dark chocolate as a nice alternative to coffee if you want to reduce iron absorption. I drink coffee regularly but honestly for the last few days I have been drinking green tea more than coffee simply because it makes me feel much better than coffee. Also, I have a room-mate from Kyrgyzstan and he drinks his tea with honey and milk, you can give it a try as well. I would go for whatever makes you feel good brother

 

[Phaedrus]

Ray said about tea: “The addition of lemon or milk to tea reduces the reactivity of the tannins. In recent years, the tea industry has very commonly been adulterating the product. Pu erh is one that still seems to be o.k.”

Ray said in other quotes that the tannins (a type of plant toxin) and antioxidants in tea and Yerba mate can suppress digestion. Sounds like adding lemon/milk would mitigate that. The other thing with Yerba mate is to make sure you only drink un-smoked varieties to avoid carcinogens.

I would tend to think despite those concerns, tea and Yerba are beneficial on the whole simply because of the caffeine content, albeit maybe not as good as coffee.

 

[Apple]

Hi guys, I remember Ray talking about dark chocolate as a nice alternative to coffee if you want to reduce iron absorption. I drink coffee regularly but honestly for the last few days I have been drinking green tea more than coffee simply because it makes me feel much better than coffee. Also, I have a room-mate from Kyrgyzstan and he drinks his tea with honey and milk, you can give it a try as well. I would go for whatever makes you feel good brother

The issue with tea is high levels of fluoride

 

[Kira]

Coffee seems to be popular in the community and with Danny Roddy and late Ray Peat, but tea isn't. How come? What's the difference? Why is one a good caffeine source but the other is not?

Where is yerba mate in this? I don't like coffee, would mate be a suitable alternative?

How about caffeine pills? Is there any reason to drink those?

I loved coffee but bad to come to terms with tbe fact that I cant handle it… Acter a year with no caffeine, I tried Green Tea… and to my surprise found it working amazingly well for me, not just temporarily, but theough the day! And it doesn’t affect my sleep, which coffee always did, no matter how I tweaked it.
GT also has a good impact on my digestion, which I am very attuned to… Granted, the amount I drink is a full teaspoon of GT in the AM, which is full dose - but only once a day… so far

 

[Cayennepepper]

yerba mate has a lot of manganese in it, I do a pour over of coffee grounds and yerba combined