COFFEE NEEDS TO BE:⠀
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•ORGANIC: ⠀
Most coffee produced today is heavily contaminated with pesticides. It’s one of the most heavily sprayed crops. Any brand you consume should be organic, pesticide-free coffee. If you use a “drip” coffee maker, use non-bleached filters. The bright white ones are chlorine-bleached, & some of this chlorine leaches from the filter during brewing. Bleached filters also contain dangerous disinfection byproducts, like dioxin.⠀
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•FRESH WHOLE BEAN: ⠀
Purchase coffee in whole bean form (Green coffee beans are coffee seeds/beans of Coffea fruits that haven’t been roasted) & then grind it yourself to prevent rancidity. Pre-ground coffee may be rancid by the time you drink it.  ⠀
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•PROPERLY DRIED & ROASTED: ⠀
It should smell & taste fresh. If it does NOT have a pleasant aroma, it’s likely RANCID & poor quality. Darker roasts like French Roast, Espresso or Turkish coffee provide greater health benefits & be easier on your stomach than light roasts. However, non-roasted coffee beans (Green coffee beans) provide many more health benefits. The roasting process reduces amounts of the chlorogenic acids (acids that promote low blood pressure, reduce blood sugar levels & improve metabolism). Therefore, Green coffee beans have a higher level of chlorogenic acids compared to regular, roasted coffee beans.⠀
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•BLACK: ⠀
Drink it black, w/o sugar/cream. Add sugar & you’ll ruin the health benefits by spiking your insulin levels & causing insulin resistance. Adding dairy interferes w/ your body’s absorption of chlorogenic acids⠀

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF COFFEE INCLUDE:⠀
•Reduced risk of stroke & type 2 diabetes⠀
•Significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease in women, & is inversely associated w/ risk of type 2 diabetes⠀
•30% increase in blood flow in your small blood vessels, which takes strain off your heart. This effect lasts about 75 minutes⠀
•Inverse association w/ premature death. Lowers the risk of death from heart, liver & respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, Parkinson’s, liver cancer, infections & protects against alcoholic cirrhosis⠀
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COFFEE ALSO PROVIDES SPECIFIC BENEFITS FOR ATHLETES THAT INCLUDE:⠀
•Helping maintain youthful muscle tissue⠀
•Improving endurance by 24%⠀
•Reducing post-workout muscle soreness by up to 48 %, compared to Aleve(30%) & Aspirin(25%)⠀
•Consume 1 cup of coffee / 1 shot of espresso, before your workout, & no more after. With all its benefits, it can also affect your adrenal glands & increase the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, causing jitters & cell death⠀
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Research suggests you can have upwards of 5 cups of coffee per day w/o adverse effects. This can be too much for many people, especially with adrenal fatigue (i.e. crashing) so common. One way to balance the risks & benefits would be moderating your coffee consumption by drinking 1 or 2 cups of coffee only in the morning, & drinking green tea when you want a beverage other than water in the afternoon.⠀

GREEN TEA: Health Risks, Best Types to Consume, Health Benefits⠀

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Green tea plants are known to be especially effective at absorbing lead from the soil, which is then taken up into the plants’ leaves. Areas with excessive industrial pollution, such as China (where nearly 90 % of the world’s green tea is produced), may contain substantial amounts of lead. While the lead in the tea leaves is not thought to leach very effectively into the tea, if you’re consuming Matcha green tea (which contains the entire ground tea leaf), it’s especially important that it comes from Japan and NOT China.⠀
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Both Black and Green teas are also naturally high in Fluoride, even if organically grown without pesticides. This is because the plant readily absorbs fluoride thorough its root system, including naturally occurring fluoride in the soil. So, as with coffee, when selecting tea, opt for organic (to avoid pesticides), grown in a pristine environment (to avoid fluoride, heavy metals, and other toxins from contaminated soil and water). A clean growing environment is essential to producing a pure, high-quality tea.⠀
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Green tea is recognized as an abundant source of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a catechin polyphenol, and other antioxidants. One of your healthiest options, and my own personal favorites, is Matcha green tea. Since it contains the entire ground tea leaf, it can contain over 100x the EGCG provided from regular brewed green tea. Again, to avoid lead contamination, opt for Japanese-grown Matcha tea rather than those from China. Steamed is also better than roasted or pan-fried varieties.⠀