Is Coffee Or Tea Better For You? The Answer Might Surprise You

Do you prefer coffee or tea?

Coffee and tea are both healthy, natural pick-me ups that can provide a much needed energy boost throughout the day.

But the age-old debate still is alive and well: is tea better for you than coffee?

Health Benefits of Tea

Tea comes in a variety of types, including black, green, white, oolong, herbal, and others, so there should be a tea flavor to suit anyone’s taste buds. Here are a few of the health benefits you’ll get from drinking tea!

1. Prevents cancer

Not only are there plenty of flavors to choose from, but tea is packed with antioxidants to protect our bodies from free radicals. Research suggests that these same antioxidants found in tea can reduce the risk of ovarian and breast cancer as well as heart disease.

Related Story: Top 5 Cancer Causes Hiding In Your Home

2. Increases mental alertness

Depending on the strength of the brew, a cup of black tea usually contains about 40-60 mg of caffeine. The caffeine in tea improves mental alertness without causing a caffeine crash.

3. Treats headaches and migraines

Herbal teas, specifically feverfew, have been found to reduce the risk of headaches and migraines. Drink a warm cup of this caffeine-free tea at night, and feel its wonderful effects by the morning.

Related Story: Headache Or Migraine–What’s The Difference?

4. Speeds up metabolism

If you’re watching your weight, just drinking green tea alone can speed up your metabolism, resulting in less fat storage and more energy.

A recent study also found that people who drank green tea after losing weight maintained their weight, while those who did not gained some weight back. So, green tea can help you not only lose weight, but keep it off for good.

Related Story: Health Benefits Of Green Tea That Could Save Your Life

5. Improves heart health

Tea isn’t just good for your waistline, it’s good for your heart as well. Tea reduces bad cholesterol, or LDL, up to 11%, and total cholesterol up to 6.5%.

Health Benefits of Coffee

So there are some pretty great benefits of tea…but what about coffee? Is coffee or tea the real savior here?

Fear not, coffee lovers. There are plenty of great health benefits to drinking coffee.

Related: Coffee Nutrition Facts: 7 Things You Didn’t Know

1. Prevents diabetes

Drinking coffee is linked to diabetes prevention. Coffee contains antioxidants that can control type 2 diabetes, and is associated with reduced risk when people drink either caffeinated or decaffeinated… so go ahead and drink up!

2. Increases mental alertness

The caffeine in coffee stimulates the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in increased alertness and decreased fatigue.  Just be careful, as overdoing it on caffeine can cause the jitters.

Related: 7 Ways To Get More Energy (Without Napping)

3. Prevents Parkinson’s disease

Studies of the last 30 years have found that regular coffee drinkers are 50-80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than non-drinkers. This is likely due to regular stimulation of the CNS.

4. Helps you be more social

Coffee drinkers tend to be very social and friendly, which reflects coffee’s anti-depressant qualities. This may be due to higher energy levels than non-drinkers. So, use that energy to strike up a great conversation!

Related: The Big Benefits Of Small Talk And How To Get Better At It

The Winner?

So, the question remains… is coffee or tea better for you?

The answer is…drumroll please…neither!

Sorry, but it depends on what benefits you’re looking for. Both coffee and tea have their pros and cons. If you’re looking for the most health benefits out of your morning cup, tea seems to be the best bet. However, coffee appears to have more emotional health benefits relating to happiness and friendliness.

No matter which you decide to go with, or even if you decide to go with both, either drink is a great choice to wake up to, and even better to drink throughout the day. Enjoy!

Photo by CanberraBec

Originally published in July 2013 and updated in July 2014.