One of the hardest changes I made when switching to a clean diet/lifestyle was cutting back on sugar. Unfortunately, after working at Starbucks for years receiving free drinks, my body was so addicted to caffeine that it was hard to cut it out completely. So, I decided to first eliminate the sugar and then slowly scale back the caffeine; meanwhile searching for some clean caffeine options.
Sugary Beverage Alternatives / Clean Caffeine Options:
Eliminating caffeine from soda, lattes, and other sugar-loaded bottled beverages left me with only a few healthier options: tea and coffee. Tea, seemingly a tastier sounding option then black coffee, seemed like the right route to begin with for me as I definitely wanted something fruity.
Intro to Tea
After some research on teas as well as reading several articles such as this one from Clean Plates and this one from Deep Roots at Home, I realized that I needed to be careful to select a loose-leaf tea (or one that used natural tea bags) from an organic source.
Here’s what I’ve learned for ensuring you are selecting a healthy source of tea:
- Choose a reputable source that tests low in pesticides and chemicals (typically organic)
- Select loose-leaf teas when possible or use natural tea bags without chemicals
- Be choosy when selecting tea infusers and brewers. Preferable sources are made from stainless steel and/or glass. Note that even plastic marked as BPA-free can contain other harmful chemicals
- Choose teas that do not use additives, artificial flavors, and natural flavors (unless certified organic tea)
- Be careful to avoid allergens when necessary. A special tip, but for those who avoid gluten: did you know some organic teas add barley?
Want to learn specific tea recommendations? Check back next week for an update with some healthy tea choices and to learn how-to batch brew tea.
Here’s to a little “cleaner” caffeine and regaining our sparkle together,
✧❈✯✦Jenn✦✯❈✧
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