Coffee vs. Tea: Wake Up to the Better Choice
By Najla Zaidi | 28 Jul, 2025

Including coffee and tea as part of a balanced diet may help you reap the most benefits.

If you have ever wondered what is better for you, the hot mug of joe first thing in the morning, or a steamy chai latte, let’s break both beverages down and assess which one may be the better option.

The origin stories of coffee and tea trace back to different parts of the world, and varying times.  Tea is older by two millennia because the earliest mentions of tea are from 1,000 BCE in southwestern China, while coffee’s first records are from 850 CE in eastern Africa, near modern day Ethiopia. 

Both drinks are made from plants.  Tea has only one species, Camellia sinensis, which is used for the most familiar tea types, including black, green, white, oolong, matcha, and puerh.  With coffee, there’s one genus, Coffea, and two primary species: Coffea arabica (Arabica) and Coffea canephora (Robusta).

Coffee and tea both contain caffeine, a natural stimulant which affects the body by increasing alertness and focus.  However, they differ in their caffeine content, how the caffeine is released, and the presence of other compounds that modify the effects.

Coffee contains more caffeine than tea, and it's absorbed into the bloodstream relatively quickly, leading to a rapid increase in alertness and energy.  Once ingested, your body absorbs 99% of its caffeine within 45 minutes, but peak blood concentrations appear as early as 15 minutes after ingestion.  This is why many people prefer a cup of coffee when they need an immediate energy boost.

Generally, an 8-ounce cup of regular coffee contains about 80 to 100 milligrams (mg) of caffeine.   “The Food and Drug Administration considers less than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day as safe,” said Dr. Fernandes of the American Medical Association (AMA), which “is about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee a day.”  Most studies examining the link between caffeine consumption and better health outcomes suggest that 300 mg daily is the sweet spot. 

Coffee contains two alkaloids, caffeine and theobromine.  Caffeine narrows blood vessels, increases blood pressure and makes you feel more alert.  Theobromine acts as a vasodilator where it dilates blood vessels, causing a reduction in blood pressure and making you feel sleepy.  It kicks in after caffeine wears off and this is why you may feel tired after coffee or feel “the crash.”   Instant coffee is much worse in that respect because it contains more theobromine than natural.  Tea doesn't have theobromine and is why it doesn't make you sleepy. 

Coffee drunk in moderation has several health benefits as well.

Coffee has polyphenol antioxidants such as chlorogenic acid, shown to have anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hypertensive properties.  Studies show that coffee is the main source of polyphenols and phenolic acids in most people's diets.  Additionally, coffee consumption is linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, gout, and liver diseases like fatty liver disease and liver cancer. 

A review found that coffee drinkers had a 23% lower risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and a 32% reduced risk of liver fibrosis compared to people who didn't drink coffee.  Coffee intake has also been shown to improve athletic performance, including reaction time, power and aerobic capacity, mostly due to its caffeine.  Because coffee is significantly higher in caffeine than tea, people sensitive to caffeine should limit their intake of coffee and highly caffeinated coffee products like espresso. 

Consuming too much caffeine can lead to side effects like anxiety, heart palpitations, headaches, high blood pressure, and pregnancy complications. 

Tea differs from coffee in several ways.

Tea contains less caffeine than coffee, and the caffeine is released more gradually due to compounds in the tea leaves that bind to caffeine.  This results in a more sustained, less intense energy boost.  L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea that can promote relaxation and focus, along with reducing the jitters and anxiety sometimes associated with caffeine. 

Both coffee and tea contain polyphenols, which are antioxidants that can contribute to various health benefits.  Green tea is known to be especially rich in polyphenols.  Many groups of polyphenols are present in tea.  Theaflavins, thearubigins, and catechins are the primary ones in black tea, while coffee is rich in flavonoids and chlorogenic acid.

A recent test-tube study discovered that theaflavins and thearubigins inhibited the growth of lung and colon cancer cells and ultimately killed them.  Studies in leukemia cells revealed similar results, suggesting that black tea may have cancer-protective properties, though more research is needed.  Unlike caffeine, L-theanine may provide anti-stress effects by increasing your brain’s alpha waves, which help you calm down and relax.  This counteracts the arousing effect of caffeine and gives you a relaxed but alert mental state without feeling drowsy.

Tea polyphenols like theaflavin also seem to contribute to weight loss.  Theaflavins reportedly inhibit pancreatic lipase, an enzyme that plays a key role in fat metabolism. Studies in rats show that tea polyphenols may lower blood lipid concentrations and reduce weight gain, even when animals ate a high-fat diet.  Black tea polyphenols also seem to alter the diversity of your gut microbiota, or healthy bacteria in your intestines, which may impact weight management.

Tea is also a strong source of antioxidants.  One of the most well-known antioxidants in tea is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a type of catechin (chemical compound) especially concentrated in green tea.  Green tea contains flavanols like quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, chlorogenic acid, coumarylquinic acid, and theogallin, all of which have cellular-protective properties. 

Consuming tea has also been shown to protect against certain health conditions like coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.  Tea has unique health benefits, including boosting mental health.  One review found that frequent green tea consumption was associated with a 34% reduced risk of depressive symptoms.  Regular tea consumption has also been shown to protect against heart disease by lowering heart disease risk factors like high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

Whether you choose coffee or tea, stay within the daily recommended caffeine limit to gain the most benefits.  Switching up your daily routine by enjoying coffee, green tea, black tea, or herbal tea is an easy way to introduce a variety of health-promoting compounds to your diet.