An ex-coffee drinker and a current tea drinker myself, I was always curious about the health and benefits of these two beverages. The truth is that coffee and tea remain two very different beverages; one made from the leaves of a plant called Camellia sinensis, and the other made from a bean.

However, when it comes to health benefits, tea will always beat coffee, especially white and green tea. Tea has more antioxidants per cup than coffee does. There is no need to put up a boring chart explaining the differences, so instead I'll put it this way:

A cup of black tea has half the amount of caffeine than a cup of coffee, and a hell of a lot more antioxidants such as flavonoids, catechins, and tannins, which powerful antioxidants that can protect your body from free radical stress. Coffee, however, does not have as much as these properties present, but does have its share of minerals.

Oolong, green, and white tea have even less caffeine and even more antioxidants. In fact, white tea has shown to contain the highest levels, and is one of the best sources when measured by volume for antioxidants in the world! So if drinking for your health, tea will always beat coffee.

I used to be a big coffee drinker until I found out about the world of tea and its many health benefits.

So, for all you coffee drinkers out there, not to break your heart, but coffee has no medicinal purposes whatsoever and the strongest of its suits is the caffeine content.

Consider this: Three or more cups of green tea per day are what's consumed by the average citizen in Japan, where the overall cancer rate is much lower than here in the U.S. While that statistic may not be due to tea drinking alone, the majority of researchers believe it definitely plays a part.

However, lately there have also been studies to show that coffee can serve as the new “Health Food”.

Be your own judge and do your own research before you commit to one or the other. Here are a few resources to help you: