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A good old cup of coffee seems to be the beverage of choice at the office. It’s reliable, wakes you up, and gets you through a long workday. But have you ever considered that tea might be a better alternative to your lattes, cappuccinos, and espressos? Contrary to popular belief, tea isn’t only for winding down or pairing with sandwiches. Drinking tea at work can actually be beneficial — it’s the pick-me-up you didn’t know you needed!
Here’s the lowdown on why tea is a worthy addition to the workplace:
Tea improves productivity
Remote work has made many teams suffer from slumps. Not only do remote workers take fewer breaks, but their workdays are longer, meaning they’re at greater risk of being burnt out.
One of the best ways to boost remote work productivity is by drinking tea while working. This is because tea’s energy-boosting benefits are longer-lasting than coffee. Green tea, in particular, contains L-theanine, an amino acid that slows down the body’s ability to absorb caffeine. This means the caffeine won’t enter the bloodstream all at once, leading to a prolonged period of alertness.
When your mind is “awake”, you can easily get through the workday. Tea consumption can also help you focus and concentrate.
Tea offers relief from headache
Getting a migraine at work can be the worst. The pain can be so intense that it distracts you from performing your day-to-day responsibilities. Fortunately, you can find relief from headaches by consuming certain teas. Herbal teas such as ginger tea and peppermint tea are popular choices, but you can also consider caffeinated teas such as green tea. A word of caution, though — caffeinated tea can trigger migraines in some people, so observe how your body reacts to it before you down a whole cup.
Tea contains caffeine
Looking to cut back on coffee without saying goodbye to caffeine’s energy-boosting benefits? Switch to tea — it contains caffeine, too! You can tell if a certain tea contains caffeine if it’s from the Camellia Sinensis plant (also known as the “tea plant”). Choose one of these teas if you prefer to be as caffeinated as possible:
- Black tea. Out of all teas, black tea contains the most amount of caffeine, with about 64 to 112 mg per 8-ounce cup.
- Oolong tea. This traditional Chinese tea contains around 29 to 53 mg of caffeine per cup.
- Green tea. A cup of classic green tea is infused with 24 to 39 mg of caffeine.
- Matcha tea. Have you ever wondered why cafés serve matcha tea? It’s because it contains a lot of caffeine — about 70 mg of caffeine per cup.
Tea’s caffeine content can be adjusted
People typically go for coffee as they think it’s stronger, but you can actually “unlock” more caffeine from tea. It all boils down to how it’s brewed. Here’s how it works: when unbrewed, tea has around 3.5% caffeine while coffee has 1.1 to 2.2% caffeine. But when coffee is brewed (i.e. when you add hot water to it), it becomes more concentrated and contains more caffeine than tea. To put things in perspective, a cup of brewed coffee contains about 95 mg of caffeine, while black tea contains about 47 mg of caffeine.
If you want your tea to be stronger, all you need to do is steep it a little bit longer. This will increase its caffeine content. As a rule of thumb, you should steep your tea for a minimum of 5 minutes.
Tea combats stress and burnout
Employees are under constant stress due to deadlines, their workload, and more. This work-related stress can contribute to burnout, which can then increase the rate of turnover. To retain employees, employers should strive to improve the employee experience and ease stress.
Strategies for reducing stress include integrating regular break times, building connections with co-workers, and rewarding good work. Employers can also consider introducing their team to teas. Certain teas contain antioxidants that can calm the mind down and reduce anxiety. A study also showed that tea consumption can lower cortisol levels — in case you didn’t know, cortisol is called the “stress hormone”.
Some of the best teas for stress relief are green tea, ginger tea, rosemary tea, and lemon balm tea.
Tea keeps you hydrated
On a scale of 1 to 10, what’s your water intake like? Do you drink enough water while at work, or do you find yourself forgetting to take regular sips? Several studies have shown that water loss of 1 to 2% can impair an employee’s performance, while a 3 to 4% drop in hydration can lower productivity by about 25%. This means that employees won’t be able to concentrate, make decisions, and do their work properly when their water intake is low.
The problem is that people are more likely to be dehydrated at work due to the conditions they’re in. A common cause is air conditioning, which tends to dry out the air in a room.
The straightforward solution is to drink water, but water can get boring after a while. If you prefer more flavor, sip some tea at work to replace the fluids you’ve lost throughout the day. Caffeinated tea is hydrating if that’s not the only thing you drink.
It’s time to make room for tea
Now that you know the benefits of drinking tea at work, it’s time to add tea to your office pantry. With tea, you can improve productivity, ease stress, stay hydrated all day, and more. If you’re new to the world of teas, don’t worry — you can start your search at Viston Tea where we’ll help you find the perfect teas for the office. We have a wide variety of loose-leaf teas the whole office will love.
Learn to pick a tea you’ll like when buying online next: “The Complete Guide To Buying Tea“
