Milk vs Tea

This article will cover which is better, tea or milk, and go over the health benefits of each one. It will break down the amount of calories, fats, proteins, sugars, carbs, vitamins, minerals, and energy that each one has compared to the other.

It will go over which one would be a better choice for different diets, including weight-loss. For some of the information provided, it might be discovered that there is really no difference at all from tea versus milk in certain things, depending on how a person consumes there tea or milk.

Hopefully a personal choice for daily consumption from the information provided can be gained here to fit any diet that you hope to include milk or tea into. This will cover dairy milk versus light or dark brewed teas.

Milk vs Tea Health Benefits

This is the health benefits of milk vs tea of what each can provide if consumed regularly as one or the other (milk or tea).

Calories

The calories of milk are higher than that of tea. Milk has a calorie range of 90 calories to 150 calories per cup from skim milk to whole milk. This isn’t a large amount of calories for just a cup, but they do add up when milk is added to other foods. Milk can be used as, and has been used, as a means to gain weight when in the need of extra calories.

However, when it is, it is usually done purposely with the expectation of gaining weight from consuming it. Milk is not a drink that most individuals think of using in a weight-loss plan. If it is, individuals will try to go for 2% milk or skim milk.

Tea on the other hand, only has 2 to 3 calories per cup without any additional sugars. This makes tea versus milk a better choice for weight-loss if no sugars are added.

The truth is though, is that not everyone drinks their tea without sugar. For the average individuals that put sugar in their tea, it would be about 3 tablespoons worth of sugar to sweeten it to the best taste. With this much, it has almost the same amount of calories as whole milk would have per cup, coming out just a few calories short.

This would make the tea around 147 calories, making tea and whole milk just about the same in terms of calories. This means that a cup of 2% milk or skim milk could possibly be a healthier choice for an individual that only drinks sweet tea and not unsweetened tea.

Fat

The amount of fat in milk can range from nearly 0% to 8 grams of fat per cup, while tea will always have 0 grams. The skim milk has less than 0.2% in fats for milk types, making it almost equal to tea in the terms of fat amounts.

Whole milk has the most grams of fat, with 58% percent of those fats being unhealthy fats (saturated fats). The other 32% is monounsaturated fats (2 grams per cup) and polyunsaturated fats (0.5 grams per cup). These are the healthy fats that greatly benefit the body’s health and do a lot of good for the body. They are difficult to find in common foods unless it is something like fish for instance.

The fat amount for whole milk carries on to 2% milk, but obviously in a lesser percentage of total fats.

If an individual decides to drink skim milk versus tea, they both will be nearly equal when it comes to grams of fat, with or without sugar added.

Protein

Dairy milk has 8 grams of protein per cup, while tea has 0 grams of protein. At best, tea drinks can have a tenth of a gram of protein per cup. All of the milk types (skim, 2%, and whole milk) have 8 grams of protein per cup.

This means that milk is better than tea for building muscle, as protein is essential for building muscle.

Additionally, whole milk can be substituted for fat-free milk and still provide the same health benefits in terms of protein.

Sugars

Tea doesn’t have any grams of sugar, not even in fractions of a percent, unless it is added to it to sweeten it. Milk on the other hand, has 13 grams of sugar per cup for whole milk.

If an individual is watching their sugar intake, then they should definitely go with unsweetened tea over milk for their diet. All dairy milk types (skim, 2%, and whole milk) will have the same grams of sugar.

Carbohydrates

Tea has 0.4 grams (almost half a gram) of carbohydrates, while milk contains 13 grams of carbs. Unfortunately, all the carbs in the milk is actually grams of sugar.

This once again applies to the skim milk, the 2% reduced fat, and the whole milk. It does not change the amount of sugars in the milk by switching to fat-free.

Neither the tea or the milk provide a good healthy source of carbs.

Energy

A cup of tea contains 15 milligrams to 112 milligrams of caffeine per cup, with white teas having the least amount, and black teas having the most. The energy gained from this is around 10% to 71% of the caffeine found in a 5-hour energy drink.

Milk’s energy gains is dependent upon the sugar it has, which is the same as the carbohydrates it contains. Sugars give a temporary boost of energy that can take around 20 minutes to kick in, and only last for about 30 minutes to an hour.

Tea compared to milk, would provide a more reliable source of energy from the caffeine (which also has other benefits), than milk would from its carbs/sugars. The average tea contains about 26mg to 50mg of caffeine per cup, which is 6.5% to 12.5% of the daily recommended limit for caffeine.

Caffeine helps an individual focus better, while sugars can possibly lower concentration after the sugar wears off. This means that tea would not only be a better source of energy than milk, but it would also improve concentration for longer periods of time. Milk doesn’t have any caffeine.

Vitamins And Minerals

Milk has the advantage over tea when it comes to vitamins and minerals. Milk is a strong source of vitamin D, which helps the body absorb calcium, which is also found in milk. Both of these provide strong benefits to the body when it comes to building strong bones and osteoporosis prevention.

The other vitamins in milk is vitamin A, B6, B12, E, and K.

Tea unfortunately isn’t a good source for vitamins. However, tea does have minerals in them that provide great benefit to the body in a plethora of ways. Many of them are said to help boost the immune system and prevent diseases. The light teas (white tea, green tea) can have the most beneficial effects, with black teas having a lesser effect due to them being more fermented than other lighter teas.

Calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium, and zinc are all good minerals that can be found in teas.

Milk has all of these minerals as well, except copper, iron, and manganese. Milk also has selenium, which helps to protect the cells in the body and protect against infections.

What is more beneficial, tea or milk?

Milk is more beneficial overall than tea since it has more vitamins than what can be found in tea. Even though milk may contain fats and sugars in it, it doesn’t take away the fact that milk is still needed for the benefits of vitamins versus tea.

Since milk has a sufficient amount of calories, it can also be consumed as a food, while tea cannot, since it lacks the calories. Not all of the calories in milk are good, but it does contain healthy fats that can benefit the body too, while tea has none.

If an individual had to pick between milk or tea for survivability, there chances of survival would most likely be greater with milk over the tea.

Which is better, tea or milk for weight loss?

Tea would be better for weight-loss if no sugars are added, or other things with calories to the tea. Losing weight is mainly about how many calories are consumed to how much calories are used by the body daily. Every type of milk contains calories higher than every type of unsweetened tea with no additives.

If an individual doesn’t change their diet, and switches to drinking tea instead of milk, then they would inevitably lose weight over time. The amount of weight lost can range from roughly a fifth of a pound a week to a third of a pound from switching from a cup of skim or whole milk, to a cup of plain tea in a diet.

This is considering that a cup of milk was consumed daily in a weight-loss diet. If more milk than this was consumed daily, then the weight loss would be greater. For example, switching over from drinking 2 cups of dairy milk a day to plain tea can double the weight loss amount.

Which is better, tea or milk?

Both milk and tea both have great benefits, which really depends on an individuals personal goals in dieting when it comes to which is better.

Tea is just a better choice when it comes to weight-loss versus milk. The ability to drink something healthy that has little to no calories is very hard to come across these days. Tea is one of the few drinks besides water or coffee that can provide that.

If an individuals diet is already covered with other foods with what milk has to offer, then tea is the winner over milk. There is no need for the milk if the nutrients is already in one’s diet from other sources. However, the main concern with drinking tea over milk would be the rich source of vitamin D and calcium that milk provides that helps build a durable strong skeletal system, including healthy teeth.

Does drinking tea count as drinking milk?

Tea cannot be used as a complete substitute for milk, because both drinks are entirely different things. The milk has calories for example, while the tea has nearly any at all without sugar.

Switching from tea to milk, or vice-versa can have a drastic effect on the body if the body is already on a strict diet. It is important to make sure that the differences in calories, fats, carbohydrates, proteins, and sugars are covered through other sources of food.

However, if an individuals diet already includes everything they need, then only minimal effects to the body will occur when substituting one for the other. Either way, milk is not the same as tea by any means, neither is tea the same as milk.

For the best results, try drinking milk with tea.