Green tea and coffee are among the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Both drinks have a variety of benefits that can provide you with better health. However, if you were forced to choose one or the other, which would be the healthier choice? The answer to that question is based upon the potential benefits each drink provides and the amount of coffee or tea required to produce that benefit.
Alertness
Coffee drinkers often depend on coffee to keep alert and to start their day, while tea drinkers say that drinking tea clears their minds. What provides these benefits to drinkers of either beverage is caffeine. Ounce for ounce, coffee, on the average, contains more than twice the amount of caffeine than tea. On the other hand, too much caffeine can make it difficult for you to fall asleep sooner and can reduce the amount of restful sleep you get, but, as you regularly consume caffeine, you eventually develop a tolerance to this and are able to get the amount of sleep you need, according to the editorial of the Nov. 1, 2007, issue of "American Family Physician."
Weight Loss
Drinking coffee or tea may make it easier for you to lose weight or, at least, prevent you from gaining weight. Unfortunately, there isn't enough evidence to support the claim that taking in more caffeine, either from coffee or tea, helps you lose a significant amount of weight or keep the weight off permanently. On the other hand, a combination of green tea and caffeine has been found to be effective in helping overweight and moderately obese individuals lose weight.
Protects Against Heart Disease
Drinking a moderate amount of coffee or tea lowers your risk of heart disease, according to the American Heart Association's "Rapid Access Journal Report." Three to 6 cups of tea reduce the risk of heart disease by 45 percent. In the case of coffee, 2 to 4 cups causes a 20 percent risk reduction of heart disease. If you drink more than 4 cups of coffee, the potential side effects may outweigh the possible benefits.
Protects Against Type 2 Diabetes
If you want to decrease your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, you are better off drinking coffee instead of green tea, according to an article in the October 2008 issue of "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Participants in a study who reported drinking four or more cups of coffee per day had a 30 percent reduction in their risk of developing type 2 diabetes while no such correlation was observed with those who reported drinking green tea.
References
- "American Family Physician"; The Safety of Caffeine Consumption; Nov. 1, 2007
- MayoClinic.com: Weight Loss: Does caffeine increase weight loss
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Green Tea
- "Rapid Access Journal Report": Coffee or Tea: Enjoy Both in Moderation for Heart Benefits
- PubMed: Coffee, Tea, and Incident Type 2 Diabetes: the Singapore Chinese Health Study
Member Comments