3 Healthy Snacks to Pair with Coffee
Working from 9 a.m to 5 p.m daily can make you feel grumpy and tired throughout the day. But, when you finally take that first sip of coffee, everything seems to start falling into place, right? This is because coffee gives the right energy to be productive. However, we recommend being cautious about drinking coffee. It can elevate your mood but increase your anxiety. You can even boost it more by pairing your coffee with a healthy snack. Coffee and healthy snacks help improve your lifestyle and productivity. Dark chocolates, cranberries, and date palm are healthy snacks to pair with coffee. Keep reading this article to know which healthy snacks are best to pair with your coffee.
Pros and Cons of Drinking Coffee
Having a cup of joe while working is a familiar sight to see in the workplace. You might even think it’s part of the job description to have coffee while doing work. Of course, that is not the actual reason.
Did you know that 43 percent of people around the world would choose coffee over other beverages? People find that drinking coffee is another way to improve productivity. This is true across every country. The same report shows that 56 percent of people also bought or made coffee to work because it helped them feel more awake.
The Food Regulation Authorities conclude that caffeine is not harmful to our health. A dose of 200 milligrams (mg), which is equivalent to two and a half cups of coffee, in one sitting is acceptable. In fact, a 400 mg dose of caffeine daily, or about 5 cups of coffee, every day is also not harmful to us. This is mainly because caffeine has positive effects on our brain. Did you know that drinking 2 and a half cups of coffee can increase alertness? It also helps us concentrate and can even elevate our mood.
However, drinking coffee to some conscious individuals may cause a disturbance. This is because caffeine may cause anxiety, tension, and nervousness. It may also interfere with sleep at night, so avoid drinking coffee later in the afternoon. We recommend limiting yourself to a daily dosage of 600 mg or 7 cups of coffee. A higher dose may worsen its negative effects on your body.
Other Benefits of Coffee
People with sleep inertia would consume coffee when they wake up at an unexpected time. They say it helps them to be more awake. While anxiety may rise when drinking coffee, it also helps limit depression. A lifelong consumption of drinking coffee may be a benefit to us. It reduces the risk of developing stroke and diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Thus, daily caffeine intake can be a part of our healthy and balanced diet. It can also absolutely be a part of our work-life routine to help us be more productive and focused on our tasks each day. Even in a low dosage intake, studies show that it still has positive effects on our performance.
Healthy Snacks to Pair with Coffee
Between our daily work-life, we like taking breaks to help relieve our stress and regain our energy. We may choose to eat a healthy snack, drink coffee, or take a breather. Statistics show that 56 percent of employees take 1 to 2 short breaks a day to eat or drink. The respondents in the study claimed that short breaks were most likely to improve their productivity. Therefore, the reason some of us eat snacks with a cup of coffee is to help us have the best amount of energy to get through the rest of the day.
Now that we have proven that coffee has pros and cons, we are here to help you cut down on the latter. Muffins, pancakes, and donuts are the most popular yet unhealthy choices to pair coffee with. Here are healthier snack foods to pair with coffee during your work break! They are known superfoods that are high in vitamins and minerals. They also complement the bitter taste of coffee.
1. Dark Chocolate
Dark Chocolate contains active components to help keep you healthy. Compounds such as catechins and procyanidins are known antioxidants. Theobromine from cocoa also has similar stimulant effects to caffeine. Dark chocolate also contains healthy lipids and sugar. Cocoa has been found to improve blood pressure. It also increases platelet aggregation. This makes it easier for your blood to clot. This can help you heal from wounds faster. Cocoa also helps in endothelial function. This helps in improving your vascular health. Although it provides benefits, its interactions are still under debate. This is one of the most common foods paired with coffee. Enjoy a cup of caffe mocha guilt-free!
2. Cranberries
Cranberries have bioactive components against vascular diseases. It may also have potential effects on cancer prevention. This is because it stimulates cell production and autophagy. This refers to the cleaning up of dead cells. Because of this, it can protect against intestinal inflammation. It also has a beneficial effect in preventing Urinary Tract Infections known as UTIs. Because of how sweet cranberries are, they are paired perfectly with coffee. There are a lot of recipes for cranberry coffee cakes! However, we recommend that you eat them plain with your coffee.
3. Date Palm
Date Palms are low in fat and protein. They are also rich in sugar. This means it can be a high energy source. Due to the phenolics in your dates, it is also a great antioxidant. Dates are naturally sweet. Therefore, it can act as a natural sweetener for your coffee! We recommend eating them together at breakfast. This will give you the healthy energy boost you need for the day.
Having a long day at work is stressful. Thankfully, we now have an idea which foods are healthy to snack on! We can finally help ourselves get through the day! We may choose to indulge in a healthy snack that can contribute to our health and productivity. At the same time, be cautious of your daily coffee intake. It might still have unhealthy effects on us. Now, let’s have a more flourishing and energetic workday! We recommend pairing your coffee with healthy snacks.
Summary
To coffee lovers, drinking coffee every day helps them get back to their normal mental alertness. It helps them have a better performance at work. However, if an individual drinks coffee for the first time in a long while, it may have a shocking effect on them. Some anxiety may occur by having palpitation and shaking. We recommend pairing your coffee with healthier snacks. Dark chocolate, cranberry, and date palms are some that taste well with your coffee. They may even give you an extra guilt-free boost for the day!
Scientific Information
- Sleep inertia – grogginess and tendency to return to sleep immediately after awakening.
- Catechin – a type of phenolic compounds that are very abundant in tea, cocoa, and berries to which are ascribed a potent antioxidant activity.
- Procyanidins – are polyphenols abundant in dietary fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and grains with a variety of biological effects.
- Theobromine – represents 1.2–2 percent of cocoa beans, where it is partially bound to tannins in cotyledon cells.
- Phenolics (phenolic compound) – are chemically defined as compounds containing hydroxylated aromatic rings, the hydroxyl group is attached directly to the phenyl, substituted phenyl, or other aryl groups.
- Lipids – are a specific group of cell metabolites and the term lipidomics has been used to describe the comprehensive identification and quantification of all lipid molecular species in a biological system.
- Nucleic acid – function to create, encode, and store biological information in cells, and serve to send and express that information inside and outside the nucleus.
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