Here's the next installment in my ongoing series, Top 10 Habits to Get Healthy Value for Your Time.

Habit #6: Substitute green tea for (at least some of) your coffee.

1. Green tea has less caffeine than coffee. (Caffeine can contribute to anxiety, elevated blood pressure, and poor sleep.)

2. Green tea is high in certain antioxidant compounds which are correlated with lower risk of a variety of cancers and other health problems.

3. It tastes good and generally does not require the large amounts of cream and sugar that many of us put into our coffee. (I don't know about you, but I really only like coffee if it doesn't taste too much like coffee!)

4. It's easy to make yourself: steep for 3 minutes using water just short of boiling. No fancy equipment is required!

5. There are lots of varieties of green tea with different flavors. My current favorite is jasmine green tea, which has a nice, delicate flavor that offsets the slight bitterness of the tea.

I find that I crave some kind of warm drink in the morning, but green tea meets my need at least as well as coffee and without the jitters, cream and sugar calories, and withdrawal headaches that I get with coffee.

What's your experience? Do you have a favorite variety of green tea to recommend?

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