Tea or Coffee

You wake up. You get your kick of caffeine. You’re still tired.

While we swear by our morning beverage, and research tells us again and again that there are benefits of both, which one is really better for you? We broke it down by category.

You need a jolt

It only takes about 10 minutes for your body to feel caffeine’s effects. Caffeine makes your body release hormones that keep you active, boosting your heart rate and blood pressure. But where do coffee and tea differ? Tea packs in lesser caffeine per cup than coffee.

Your choice: Coffee

You want to stay healthy

Here’s the rundown on coffee: A 2009 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people who drank four cups of coffee daily were 30 percent less at risk of developing type 2 diabetes than non-drinkers. It’s also been shown that men who drank at least three cups of coffee daily were 9 percent less likely to have skin cancer than those who drank less than one cup monthly.

But health benefits of tea—especially green tea—are well documented, too. It’s well known that antioxidants in green tea can aid in repairing a weak immune system because it has EGCG, an antioxidant that recharges the white blood cells that prevent viruses from reactivating. Green tea is also loaded with catechins, powerful antioxidants that research has shown could help prevent prostate cancer.

Your choice: Either

You’re trying to lose weight

Here’s the good news, caffeine has been shown to slightly reduce appetite. But drinking green tea daily could lead to about an inch off your waistline in 12 weeks. That’s because EGCG and caffeine in green tea can help shrink fat cells and makes muscle cells more active.

Your choice: Tea

You want to gain muscle

While tea might be better for burning fat, coffee is the winner when you want more muscle. Guys who drank 2 1/2 cups of coffee a few hours before working out could sprint 9 percent longer in distance than when they didn’t, according to a recent study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Why? Caffeine can stimulate your muscles, which can help you power through with more reps.

Your choice: Coffee

You want to boost your mood

When British researchers tricked daily coffee drinkers into drinking decaf, they scored the same on puzzle tests as caffeinated coffee drinkers. That’s because we’ve associated coffee with energy, so we intuitively expect to have a caffeine kick.

But tea has been linked to calming your nerves. Jasmine and lavender tea drinkers, for example, experienced a decreased heart rate simply by smelling their tea, according to a recent study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.

Your choice: Tea

5 things successful dieters do

Many of us set out with the best intentions to lose weight and eat more healthy, only to lose motivation and give up when we don’t see the results we are hoping for. To help revamp your diet plan and increase your chance of success, check out these 5 surprising things successful dieters do.


Eat breakfast

Many dieters skip breakfast to help cut back on calories. However, studies have repeatedly shown that those who eat breakfast are generally slimmer than those who do not, as breakfast-eaters tend to snack less throughout the day.

Eat more fats

While many of us believe that fat is the ultimate enemy when it comes to weight loss, successful dieters know not to give up on fats entirely. In fact, opting for low fat versions of your favourite foods is often not as diet-friendly as it seems, as low fat meals are often packed with sugar to compensate.

Instead of avoiding all fats, opt for monounsatured fats found in avocados, olive oil and nuts. While it is still important to monitor your consumption of fat, these ‘good’ fats can actually help weight loss, with studies suggesting that eating a diet rich in monounsatured fats (and low in the saturated kind) can help to promote weight loss, particularly in the tricky abdominal area.

Eat more often

Most successful dieters know that losing weight isn't so much about how much you eat, but what kinds of food you are eating. In fact, eating too little can put your weight loss goals in jeopardy. This is because your body has a natural instinct to protect itself, so when it is not given an adequate amount of food it will automatically go into starvation mode, causing the metabolism to slow down and the body to hoard fat and calories.

Furthermore, increasing the number of meals you eat could actually help you to lose weight, as eating small frequent meals (rather than three larger ones) helps to keep your hunger at bay, meaning that you are less likely to over-indulge at your next meal and more likely to consume fewer calories over the day.


Treat yourself

Although constantly giving into your cravings is a sure-fire way to sabotage your diet, successful dieting doesn't mean cutting out treats entirely. Allowing yourself the odd treat will help your diet seem less daunting and will help you to remain motivated to stay on track and resist your cravings.

Also, unless you plan on giving up your favourite treats forever, there is little point in cutting them out now, as the pounds will just pile on again once you reintroduce them into your diet. Rather than completely cutting out treats, try embarking on a more realistic and sustainable healthy eating plan by following the 80/20 rule; eating healthily 80 per cent of the time and being less strict for the other 20 per cent.


Many of us fixate on the number on the scales, obsessively monitoring its progress up or down. However, smart dieters know that body weight is not the be all and end all. Firstly, it is important to remember that scales do not show the true picture. Not only do they not show any of the less tangible benefits of healthy eating, they do not give an accurate representation of fat loss as they fail to indicate how much of your weight is undigested food, muscle or water and how much is fat.

Furthermore, not seeing the number you are hoping for on the scales can seriously affect motivation and self-esteem and lead to emotional eating. While it is important to monitor your progress, taking waist measurements, measuring body fat and paying attention to the fit of your clothes are more reliable ways to measure changes in your body shape. It is also important to pay attention to other healthy eating benefits, such as an improved sense of well-being, increased energy levels and improved skin tone and texture.