Hardly a month goes by without some new study suggesting that coffee and tea - arguably India's - and the world's - most widely consumed beverages after water - may be good for everything from your liver to your brain. Yet in a battle between the brews, which one would win the cup for maximum health benefits delivered? We give you the latest developments on these drinks and leave you to draw your own conclusions.


While researchers caution that none of their findings make a compelling case for starting a coffee habit, Java junkies do have reason to, well, perk up:

Type 2 Diabetes: Since 2002, more than 20 studies have suggested that coffee somehow helps ward off type 2 diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, "Drinking brewed coffee in moderate amounts may be beneficial for reducing the chances of getting diabetes. The presence of caffeine does not explain all of the effects. There may be some other ingredient in brewed coffee that has healthful effects."

Cancer: A review of nearly 400 studies presented last year at the University of California in Berkeley found a protective effect against colon, rectal and liver cancer. The researchers suggested that, besides speeding the passage of stool through the colon, coffee may reduce the buildup of cholesterol, sterol secretions and bile acid in the colon.

Another recent review, by Italian scientists, looked at 10 studies of coffee and liver cancer and found a similar benefit, with the highest reduced risk at 55% being among those quaffing three or more cups a day.

The most headline-grabbing recent research on coffee and cancer revealed a surprising synergy between caffeine and exercise. Rutgers University researchers found that both caffeine and exercise protected mice against skin cancer - and that in combination, the effect was more than the sum of the two factors.

Cardiovascular disease: In 2006, Norwegian researchers found that older women drinking one to three cups of coffee daily were 24% less likely to die of cardiovascular disease than non-drinkers. Another study in 2007 found that people age 65 and over who consume four or more servings of caffeine daily had a lower risk of death from heart disease.

Gout: Components in coffee itself, not caffeine, were recently shown to reduce the risk of gout, a painful arthritic condition caused by a defective uric-acid metabolism.

Parkinson's disease: Those coffee-loving Finns recently found evidence that their high level of consumption — 10 cups a day or more — might protect against Parkinson's disease. Following 6,710 men and women ages 50 to 79 for 22 years, researchers at Finland's National Public Health Institute concluded that the heaviest coffee drinkers were at 84% reduced risk of developing the disease.

Cognitive decline: Anybody whose experienced coffee's morning wake-up call to the brain knows that it can temporarily help sharpen thinking. But coffee may also boost brain function in more lasting ways: A European study of 676 healthy men, published in 2006, found that those consuming three cups of coffee daily suffered significantly less cognitive decline over 10 years than non-drinkers. And in 2007, a French study concluded that older women who drank at least three cups of coffee daily were 18% less likely to develop problems with verbal recall and 33% less prone to memory problems.

Antioxidants & Minerals: Among the antioxidants in coffee that scientists are studying is chlorogenic acid, which slows the intestines' absorption of glucose and might help explain coffee's protective effect against type 2 diabetes.

And the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center - one of a network of USDA facilities - found that a 200 ml cup of instant coffee contains about 57 micrograms of boron. An essential nutrient for plants, boron may also prove beneficial to humans; one study in rats found that dietary boron reduced the amount of insulin in the blood required to maintain proper glucose levels. Coffee is also a surprising source of more familiar minerals and nutrients, including chromium, magnesium and niacin. A cup of coffee contains about one-third as much potassium as found in a small banana.


On the negative side,

* Some studies link high coffee intake to stomach cancer and leukemia.

* Because caffeine has a short-term elevating effect on blood pressure, people who drink one cup after another may keep their blood pressure high for periods long enough to risk heart trouble.

* Pregnant women are advised to avoid or limit coffee and other sources of caffeine because of possible harm to the fetus even with not - so - high intakes. According to the latest studies just 200mg of caffeine - that's 2 cups of coffee - doubles the risk of miscarriage.


Legend has it that tea was discovered by a Chinese emperor nearly 5,000 years ago when the leaves of a nearby bush accidentally blew into his vat of boiling water. Over the centuries, tea's popularity has spread the world over. In more recent years, scientists have uncovered an array of potential health benefits, from heart protection to anti-cancer and weight-loss effects. Should you drink a cup - or two or three - a day?

Did You Know – There’s some evidence that adding milk may bind catechins in tea and block some of its benefits.

Heart health: Population studies, including a recent one from Japan in the Journal of the American Medical Association, link tea consumption with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Tea may lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol and make it less susceptible to artery-damaging oxidation, as well as improve blood vessel functioning, lessen inflammation, and inhibit blood clotting. But not all studies show heart benefits, and a Greek study found that black tea had an adverse stiffening effect on the aorta, the main artery that carries blood from the heart, while both black and green tea boosted a variable indicating increased load on the heart.

Cancer: In lab and animal experiments tea polyphenols have been shown to inhibit a variety of cancers, including colon, bladder, pancreas, lung, skin, and prostate. Several observational studies in women from Europe, China, and the U.S. have linked tea with reduced risk of ovarian cancer, for example.

Body weight: There's some evidence that tea may have a weight-loss effect, though not all studies find this, and any effect would be modest at best. In a small study a few years ago, oolong and green tea boosted energy expenditure in healthy women. And in a review by Swiss researchers, most studies found that green tea or green tea extract reduced body weight and body fat. Tea polyphenols mi stimulates energy metabolism and boost fat burning, but part of the effect may all be due to tea's caffeine.

Bone health: Several studies, including recent one from Australia looking at women age 70 to 85, found that long term tea drinkers tend to have greater bone density than non-drinkers. Tea contains fluoride, flavonoids, and other compound that may be good for bones.

The brain: Lab and animal studies support the role of tea in aiding cognition. Studies in people, however, are limited. In one study in 2006, older people in Japan who reported drinking as little as four to six cups of green tea a week had a reduced risk of cognitive impairment compared to those who drank less.


Both coffee and tea's effects in the body are still not fully understood, but don't expect them alone to prevent heart disease, cancer, or any other conditions. Nevertheless, both brews can be healthy additions to your daily diet.

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