Better Alternative to Coffee -Roger Mason

It is not usually a good practice to recommend a lesser evil in life. Coffee is such an insidious addiction, however, that it certainly is better to find a less harmful substitute that provides the same stimulative effects.

 
This column has stressed that coffee is a poison with many harmful effects. Drinking coffee-even one cup a day- shortens our lives and lowers the quality of our lives with bad health in general. It is not just the caffeine in coffee, but the toxins in the coffee oil as well. Cafestol and kahweol are proven to be harmful. Drinking decaf gives you half of the deleterious effects, and none of the energy, so that is really an irrational choice. The worst kind of coffee you can drink is the type that tastes the best- French press and the unfiltered full flavor rich coffee because the flavor oils are retained.  
 
Coffee addiction is, in fact, a physical addiction with withdrawal symptoms when stopped. This is really no different from addiction to narcotics except less severe. The addiction is simply milder and the withdrawal symptoms more tolerable. Everywhere you go you see coffee available. Starbucks® is a national status addiction. Most people you meet are coffee drinkers, even the young people who have no need of extra energy. 
 
You often cannot ask people to give this up, as they enjoy it too much. Coffee really does provide energy at work, it makes you feel great for a few hours, it's cheap, it tastes good, it's everywhere, and comes in different flavors, it's legal, everyone else is doing it, and it's The National Pastime along with alcohol. Of course, the real way to have lots of energy and feel great all the time is to eat well, take good supplements, exercise, lose weight, don't have bad habits, not take prescription drugs,  fast weekly, get enough sleep, and just live a good lifestyle. Good health equals lots of energy. 
 
Coffee is not the only caffeine based drink for energy. (We will not discuss ephedra and ephedrine today as they are much stronger and only one molecule away from actual prescription amphetamine.) There are two other herbs that contain caffeine, and are just as enjoyable as coffee, but only half as harmful. These are guarana and yerba mate. Both are traditional drinks in much of Central and South America.  
 
The guarana is sold both as tablets, guarana tea bags, or those overpriced, sugar filled "energy drinks" you see in every convenience store now. Many of these so-called energy drinks, such as Red Bull® are full of plain old caffeine, and have no guarana or yerba mate at all. (Please see Energy Drinks under "E" in our free library.) Brands like Rock Star®, Monster®, Rip It®, and Full Throttle® are popular.. They're everywhere now. In 2008 energy drinks have taken over.

 
Yerba mate is also sold in tablet or capsule form as well as in any energy drinks. You can buy yerba mate as loose tea or in tea bags. It has a typical herbal tea taste. The makers of yerba mate teas will have you believe this is some kind of "native tonic". Yerba mate is supposed to be “good for you” with lots of vitamins, amino acids, and antioxidants. It is advertised as a,  “healthful alternative to coffee". The supposed benefits, including mental clarity (true), sustains energy levels (true), brightens mood (true), aids weight loss (nope), improves digestion (nope), boosts immune system (nope), and helps relieve allergies (nope). It is even called "the drink of the gods". Not quite. You can buy guarana and yerba mate tablets in health food stores or on the Internet. You can get either tea in health food stores, and even in chain groceries. Keep a box of tea at your desk as work so you can break the coffee habit. It seems that that these two teas are not as addictive as coffee. These will not make you hungry later as coffee usually does. You will probably not feel the need to drink several cups a day, seven days a week like you do with coffee. Coffee drinkers seem to never take a break, but with these two herbal teas you shouldn't find this a problem. Always remember that caffeine (methyl xanthine) is an alkaloid that is not good for us and we're not promoting the use of it at all, but merely as a better alternative to coffee and a lesser evil. Something to be used occasionally and in moderation, not as daily fare.