For people who value fitness and a healthy lifestyle, one question often pops in their mind: is drinking tea better than drinking coffee? This is not a particularly difficult question to answer because both have their benefits. Like most nutritional advice, there is no “one size fits all” answer, and it may depend on several factors, which I will examine.

For starters, it should be quite obvious that pure coffee that you drink in the morning before you drive to work has a much higher caffeine content than tea. There are some variables, however. A 100-gram cup of black tea may have 20 mg of caffeine while a cup of pure coffee will carry 40 mg of caffeine. However, a 100 mg cup of decaffeinated coffee will only carry 1 mg of caffeine. Instant coffee will sometimes carry as high as 3142 mg of caffeine. If you’re wary of drinking caffeine altogether, you could simply opt for a cup of herbal, brewed tea with 0 mg of caffeine.

However, there is no denying that both have their benefits. Research has shown that coffee may contain the ability to reduce things such as Alzheimer’s, dementia or type 2 diabetes. Caffeine is also a stimulant, which may help sufferers of asthma by relaxing the airways in the lungs. Finally, caffeine helps constricted blood vessels in your brain, which can reduce migraines.

Researchers at the University of Scranton concluded that coffee is the primary source of antioxidants in the United States, but emphasized that only one or two cups per day would be beneficial.

A study by the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that coffee was fairly neutral and that while it didn’t cause any serious health concerns, it doesn’t carry any specific benefits for your health either.

As you can see, there appears to be some confusion or conflicting opinion over the ultimate health benefits of coffee, but it is also worth mentioning the risks of overconsumption.

Anxiety symptoms can appear in those who drink too much coffee, especially those with anxiety disorders. Because caffeine is a stimulant, it can cause unwanted side effects such as heart palpitations, insomnia, and tachycardia. People with a sensitivity to acidic foods should also avoid coffee, or opt for “low acidity” brands of coffee.

Tea, on the other hand, largely depends on the type of tea you’re drinking. Tea can be chock full of antioxidants, and can aid in preventing cancer because tea contains polyphenol compounds. Nearly all tea is made from the plant Camellia sinensis, which oxidize and wilt after being harvested. The type of tea you drink depends on the amount of oxidization the plant is allowed to achieve.

Green tea is considered to contain the most amounts of polyphenol compounds and contain free radicals that could protect your cells from DNA harm. So at the end of the day, when you’re asking yourself “is drinking tea better than drinking coffee?”, It mainly boils down (no pun intended) to your lifestyle and whether or not you’re able to moderate your intake beverage. Try drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, and green tea with lunch and dinner, and drinking water during the rest of the day.