Caffeine is a natural stimulant that occurs in many plants. Caffeine in plants occurs in plants as a natural pesticide which paralyzes insects that feeds on it. Different cultures all over the world have come to depend on caffeine for the stimulating effect that it brings. There are several plants that carry this substance but the two most common source are the coffee and the tea plant.
There are many benefits that can be derived from taking caffeine aside from the stimulating effects that it provides to the mind. We have listed of those benefits here:
• Enhancers of Performance and Endurance- Researchers have shown that caffeine can be a means for enhancing the endurance and even the performance of those who are engaged in physical activities like athletes. Tests have proven positively that ingesting a little over 300mg. of caffeine half an hour before the work out can result in the body being able to perform better and last longer in doing a certain physical activity. This is very vital news to athletes who can use effects like that to enhance their performance. There is one problem however and that is in relation to the best source, it seems that for this benefit to work caffeine should be taken in tablet form.
• Metabolism- Caffeine can increase the rate of metabolism of a person and the fact is that it is the main active ingredient in most diet pills available today.
• Memory- It has also been proven that caffeine can improve the memory retention of a person. This benefit might be connected with another proven benefit of caffeine which is to help prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
There are other benefits that have been proven for this substance; some are related to weight loss while others have something to do with keeping the mind sharp. Now that you know that caffeine can be beneficial the next question to answer is what’s the best source for it?
This question should boil down between the two most common sources of the substance. We have to pick between the amounts of caffeine in tea vs. coffee.
People always think that tea is the weaker drink between the two but they might have also heard that tea contains more caffeine when compared to coffee. This might cause a little confusion. Actually there should be no confusion because the explanation is simple. The tea that we usually drink is weaker when it comes to caffeine because an ounce of tea is used for producing more than twenty cups of drink, while an ounce of coffee is used for making 2 cups at the most. So the caffeine in tea is more diluted. Pound for pound however tea contains more caffeine than coffee. Just try making two cups cup of tea from an ounce of tea leaves and you should feel that difference. The quality of the leaves used for the tea is the biggest determinant whether the tea is to have a strong dash of caffeine or not.