Drinking Tea in Office; What Can It Do for You?

For many of us, a stressful day at work cannot begin before we have enjoyed a cup of fresh tea to get things in to perspective, while others look forward to the noon tea break that brings with it the excuse to stress their legs, enjoy a sweet cup of tea and indulge in some idle office chit-chat.

Tea is almost an institution within itself, with office goers drinking more than a million cups every year, making it a staple in most office pantries. But is there more to tea than just being a mere caffeine fix? Could drinking tea come with more than just the general health benefits we know of, making it a better choice for an office beverage as compared to coffee that can boost work productivity while also being a healthier alternative? Let’s find out!

Drinking tea in Office: Something we all look forward to

Why do we want to drink cups and cups of tea at work? Tea relaxes, soothes and uplifts the mood. It also heightens alertness, banishes lethargy and beats fatigue. So it comes as no surprise that you want to have a cup every time you find your mind drifting, or feel tiredness creeping in.

Long working hours, poor posture as you sit huddled in front of the computer and the stress of completing that project before the deadline – all can tire you out, both mentally and physically. And tea is the perfect way to feel better, and feel energized enough to carry on with the day.

When we feel physically tired or mentally foggy, the caffeine kick tea offers comes as a welcome relief.  While many office goers prefer coffee, it’s not the healthiest option for you. A cup of green tea or even Darjeeling tea with its high rate of antioxidants and soothing, warm taste is a better alternative. Green tea leaves are naturally high in an-tioxidants – Flavonoids and Polyphenols, which are both known for their anti-aging as well as disease prevention properties.

On the other hand, high quality Darjeeling tea is great for the immune system, making you less susceptible to all those viruses doing the rounds at work. Additionally, it is great for combating stress (there seems to be no dearth of that in office!) and also reduces risk of cardiac diseases, strokes and cell damage.

Tea: Bridging social gaps

In India, we are well aware that tea is a social drink. And what can be better than enjoying a cup of tea while indulging in the joy of chatting? Most tea drinkers will communicate more efficiently with their colleagues, building social relationships with them. It’s all about the joy of sharing a hot drink together, getting some time to stretch one’s legs and take a well deserved break.

According to Cary Cooper who is an Occupational Psychologist, “Tea breaks are an essential part of coping with sedentary office life. Nowadays we sit in front of screens not communicating eyeball to eyeball and even e-mail people in the same building. We need to make people more active and see other people, and a tea break is one way of doing this perfectly”.

Also, most of us don’t manage to take breaks in between work, which can be quite detrimental to our spine health. So taking that walk to the pantry to make use of the company’s electric tea pot and indulge in the gourmet green tea bags you have stashed in your desk drawer is the perfect way to get up and stretch your muscles, not to mention say Hello to a few colleagues on your way!

Can tea also boost your work productivity?

Tea has a magical quality; you can say this has something to do with its warmth, aroma and the ritual of coming together to share a cup. It plays a big role in our lives – it perks you up and wakes you up in the mornings, relaxes your mind and helps you unwind at the end of the day, and it also helps you cope with stress in tight situations. However, does tea really help boost your productivity levels at work, or is that just an illusion?

Most of us notice a slump in our productivity mid-afternoon, especially if you have eaten a big lunch. This has a lot to do with how slogging away at your desk affects the working of the brain’s temporal body. That’s when you need something to help refresh and revitalize your mind and body. And what can be better than tea?

High quality strong black teas like the Assam tea and Darjeeling tea can contain high amounts of caffeine, which is exactly what your body needs for reenergizing. But unlike coffee, which when drunk in excess can be very bad for health; tea comes with an added bonus. It is a complex drink that has in it many chemical compounds, and the ones that make it the perfect performance booster or productivity enhancer are Theobromine and Theophylline. Both of these have a researched and guaranteed affect on performance.

Theobromine works a lot like caffeine; it is also an alkaloid, but studies reveal that theobromine has a lesser adverse impact on the human CNS or central nervous system, while it does stimulates the heart to a greater degree. What’s better – theobromine is not addictive; so it offers you the instant perk-me-up properties that you really want when you face the afternoon slump.

Some Japanese studies also found that green tea can boost exercise endurance by up to 24%. And while you aren’t looking for a workout supplement here (though it’s worth noting that caffeine is actually one of them), what it will do is mobilize your fat and offer you more energy, which can really come to your aid if you are feeling physically and mentally drained at work. Since a cup of tea can combat fatigue and promote alertness, it comes as no surprise that it has been used as a productivity enhancer for ages.

Tea: A ‘Complex’ Drink

Some people who do not like the taste of tea resort to colas and sodas for instant energy. However, it is tea, a complex drink with many beneficial chemical compounds in it, which is the best beverage for office goers. It has a remarkable relaxing effect, combats fatigue and even has the ability to override severe sleep deprivation should you be pulling off many late nights to complete an important project. It’s great for ‘restoration of function’, especially if you are under a lot of stress and experiencing the many signs of it.

But that’s not all. Tea has many other health benefits to offer to workaholics, which could be crucial in improving overall health.

• How often do you remember to drink water while busy with work? Not drinking enough water can dehydrate you and interfere with normal digestive and circulatory functioning. But here is the good news – new studies show that drinking 3 or more cups of tea while at work can actually be better for you than drinking the same amount of water, because the antioxidants contained within tea boost good health, and at the same time rehydrate your body.
• More often than not, workaholics live, sleep and breathe work. They make no time for exercise and also do not put a lot of stress on good nutritional habits. The result is poor cardiovascular health and obesity, not to mention increasing risk of heart diseases and diabetes. While tea will not reverse these damages, it can do its bit in improving blood flow around the body. It helps by widening blood arteries to reduce the risk of clots, and  the antioxidants called ‘flavonoids’ in tea can slow down the onset and risk of heart disease. So if you are going to do ONE small thing for your health, start having 3 to 4 cups of green tea at work at regular intervals.
• Now spending hours after hours slogging at your desk rarely leaves time for a workout. Soon you notice your clothes are tighter, your paunch bloated and your spirits dampened. If you want to keep your waistline in shape, a balanced diet will definitely help, but so will drinking a few cups of tea at work! It keeps body fat down by speeding up the burning of calories, not to mention it is also a lot less fattening than sipping on colas and iced lattes!
• If you are experiencing a poor memory spell, drinking more green tea will come to your aid. Studies done across the globe now prove that green tea can strengthen memory cells and also reduce the risk of developing diseases like Alzheimer’s and Dementia. So if you want to boost your memory and impress your boss, do indulge in some quality green tea bags and the best tea kettle to install at your desk and sip away!

So, what are you waiting for? Brew up a healthy cup of tea at office today, invite a few colleagues to share a cup and find the perfect way to relax and unwind for a few minutes so that you return to your desk revitalized enough to find your passion for work once more!

Bibliography and References:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12008712

This article and infographic is provided by : http://www.teabox.com/