It’s Saturday, 11.15am and blazing sunshine outside.
Brunch is possibly my favourite meal of the week, and like clockwork, no matter where I am, my conversation with the waiter always starts the same.
Waiter: What would you like to drink?
Me: Coffee and some tap water on the side, please.
Thirst Vs pleasure. Coffee Vs water.
My friend (a tea-drinker,) always tries to hide her shock when I order a second cup. Won’t that keep you awake later?
Coffee is delicious. On the commute in to work I dream about my first cup of the day and usually three more after that.
I convince myself it is the potion that will help me get through the day. Striving to juggle a busy work/life balance.
However, I’m fully aware that I drink too much coffee and need to cut down.
And its moments like at Brunch, when I come under the microscope, I realise that I’m a little bit obsessed with coffee.
We are drinking too much.
And when I say ‘we’, according to The British Coffee Association, the UK consume approximately 55 million cups of coffee a day.
So, by the sounds of it, I’m not alone.
“Drink more water and less hot drinks!”
“Water will properly hydrate you and keep you more alert than a single cup of coffee.”
We’ve all heard the recommendations.
But despite waking up in the middle of the night, on top of the covers and gasping for water in an attempt to cure my dehydration, when morning comes, hot coffee is still on the menu – whatever the weather.
Even at this time of year where our cold weather coffee fix is replaced with iced Frappuccino’s, we can’t get enough of the scrumptious bean.
Why are we so obsessed?
The answer is of course caffeine. Defined as a drug, stimulating the central nervous system and causing an increased alert frame of mind.
It’s the temporary fix that many people claim they can’t live without.
And boy are they right.
But, however vital it may feel, we can live without it.
Water on the other hand, that’s more crucial.
1.2 litres a day more crucial to be exact – depending on which source you listen to.
Without trying to teach a grandmother to suck eggs, obviously water is important. We actually need it to survive.
So when we feel like we are dying without that morning coffee, remember we are not.
Water will always win.
But there are a whole host of interesting stats that state coffee may also have health benefits, including preventing a long list of diseases.
Just yesterday a news story told us that THREE cups were good for you!
So don’t put your mug down just yet.
Instead, if you like a coffee (there’s 55 million of us drinking it today,) then maybe just try to reduce it and drink more water.
Brew for thought – think before you drink.
As I type I’m downing my second pint of water, justifying with every gulp, my second cup of coffee that will be sure to come after. But today I’ll have two. Just two.
It’s a battle of drinks with only one real winner. But the loser doesn’t have to disappear completely, thank goodness.
Here’s some ways to make water and coffee go down that little bit easier:
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