Which is Healthier…Coffee or Green Tea?

Coffee and tea are both considered ”healthy” foods, and certainly much better for us than some of the other liquids we could be consuming.  But let’s take a look at some of the comparisons when it comes to their health properties.  First off, the comparison is made to “green tea” as opposed to “black tea”, because of those two, green tea is made from steaming the leaves in contrast to black tea where the leaves are fermented.  Steaming preserves more of the polyphenols, or antioxidants.

Relative to antioxidants, green tea has greater degreee of antioxidants than does coffee.  However, when looking at the per capita consumption of coffee and tea in the American diet, coffee comes out on top — 1,299 mg of antioxidants for coffee versus 294 mg of antioxidants of tea.

Both coffee and green tea are loaded with vitamins and minerals….B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, potassium, and iron.  The degree of whether coffee or tea is more favorable is of course dependent on how much of each is consumed, and in the case of coffee, whether the coffee is HealthWise Coffee which has a much higher mineral content.

Both coffee and tea have been shown to have associations with reduced risk of diseases and ailments, such as some cancers, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and stroke, among others.  It should be noted that the number of studies performed - some 18,000 for coffee, far outweighs the number of studies performed on the health aspects of tea, about 1,000.  And, apparently in the case of tea, some of the tests pointing to positive outcomes, were performed on animals and not humans.

With regard to acidity, green tea has a higher pH than coffee in general, typically in the range of 6.0 to 6.4, versus the pH of an unroasted coffee bean of 5.0.  In a HealthWise Gourmet Coffees test of the pH of Celestial Seasonings Green Tea, the pH was 6.18, which corresponded to the pH of HealthWise Coffee in a similar test.  For a look at the tested pH of various coffees, click here   http://www.healthwisecoffee.com/blog/?page_id=89 .

There can be some negatives to coffee and tea consumption, and it would seem that there are perhaps more real negatives with tea.  Drinking too much coffee can give you higher blood pressure.  Reseach shows that tea can impair the body’s ability to absorb iron, and, in higher quantities -especially as in iced tea, can lead to kidney stones.  Also, there is some research that shows the risk of developing esophogeal cancer can be increased from drinking very hot tea.

So which is healthier…coffee or green tea?  The answer probably lies in whether you are a coffee drinker, or tea drinker, as you are likely not both.  It also could depend on whether you are a marketer of coffee, or a marketer of tea!

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