Health Benefits

This is where things get interesting, as both Tea and Coffee have their own set of health benefits in the form of Antioxidants. These help to reduce inflammation and prevent cell damage in the body, which free radicals can cause in your body. ‘Free radicals’ sounds strange, but it just means the waste substances your cells produce while going through normal metabolic functions. Coffee and Tea can battle these due to their varying Antioxidants. They contain different Antioxidants, but both hold many polyphenols, a plant compound. Which one is better for your health specifically? Well, that depends on your body and what you want to focus on preventing. Tea contains L-theanine, an antioxidant which stimulates and calms your brain, specifically stress. However, data supports that coffee could protect against liver disease and depression.

Which one contains more caffeine?

Generically, coffee is depicted as being the drink to choose when you need a quick dose of caffeine to get some energy. However, you may be shocked that unbrewed tea contains more caffeine per mg than coffee, with 3.5% compared to 1.1-2.2% in coffee. That’s wild. So, where the heck are the facts supporting this myth of coffee being able to wake you up compared to Tea? Well, when you add the hot water, the game changes, as the water extracts the caffeine from coffee beans. At this point, the caffeine content in coffee skyrockets to 80-100mg, whilst tea sits at 45-60. So technically, the generalisation is correct; if you want more caffeine, coffee is the one for you!

However, nowadays, people are finding themselves having to cut down on their caffeine intake. Whether that is due to health factors such as anxiety, insomnia or jitters, people are reaching for drinks with a lower caffeine content. Decaffeinated products’ quality has significantly risen in the past few years, with natural processes like the sparkling water or CO2 method. By not using harsh chemicals to strip the caffeine away, the natural flavours in the tea or coffee remain intact, tasting so good it’s hard to taste the difference! So, we think Tea and Coffee score the same regarding decaffeinated brews.

Which one will lead to more staining on your teeth?

Tannins, known as tannic acid, are polyphenols that cause teeth staining, and they are present in tea and coffee. But which one has more? It may surprise you that Traditional English Breakfast Tea contains more than coffee. So even though coffee is ‘stronger’ than a cup of Tea, it causes more staining. This can be reduced by brushing your teeth twice daily and drinking water after a cup of tea to reduce the amount of tannin left in your mouth. Some people, however, find themselves at the hands of their dentist, being told they need to watch their Tea obsession if they don’t want their teeth permanently affected by staining. This could potentially make people switch their habits to coffee or reduce their number of teas per day.