Twinings Strand

With two of the world’s favorite caffeine-packing beverages in the ring, this battle might seem like anybody’s call. But when it comes to choosing the better early morning brew, does coffee or green tea deserve the Greatist crown?

Meet The Competitors

Hailing from the camellia sinesis plant indigenous to mainland China, green tea is packed with powerful antioxidants called catechins, which have been shown to potentially inhibit the growth of some cancers A comparison of the morphological changes associated with conventional and sustained treatment with pigallocatechin3gallate, thymoquinone, and tannic acid on lncap cells. Richards, L.R., Jones, P., Beghuzzi, H., et al. University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi. Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation.2008; 44: 465-70. . Research also suggests long-term consumption of green tea might help prevent obesity, type 2 diabetes, and coronary disease Beneficial effects of green tea: a literature review. Chacko, S.M., Thambi, P.T., Kuttan, R., et al. NPO International Laboratory of Biochemistry, Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya, Japan. Chinese Medicine 2010 Apr 6; 5:13. . This mellower brew (with approximately 1/3 the caffeine of coffee) has also been linked to stress relief and clearer thinking Green tea consumption and cognitive function: a cross-sectional study from the Tsurugaya Project 1.Kuriyama, S., Hozawa, A., Ohmori, K., et al. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006 Feb; 83(2): 355-61. Green tea consumption is associated with lower psychological distress in a general population: the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study. Hozawa, A., Kuriyama, S., Nakaya, N., et al. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2009 Nov; 90(5): 1390-6. . Guess they don’t call it “zen” for nothing.