Why I Might Be Dropping Coffee for Matcha
There has to be a way to stop this cycle of suffering.
I messed up again. It started with one cup of coffee and I was falling down the spiral of addiction all over again. I was begging on the streets for some fresh Philz. Hell, I would even go for some Folgers. I was fiending. Each night I went home hopeless and had fever dreams about coffee.
Awaking in cold sweats, I would pick up my phone and watch youtube videos of people brewing coffee. No, I can’t. Not again. I promised myself that I wouldn’t. Eventually, I came across a video that changed everything for me. Suddenly, I felt at peace. I now had a way to kick my coffee habit once and for all.
I may have slightly exaggerated my dependence on coffee in the two previous paragraphs, but any long-time drinker knows that coffee definitely has its drawbacks. In an article that I posted a few weeks ago, I talked about how I stopped drinking coffee for about ninety days. Before that, I had never really bothered to go a day or two without coffee for the past three years or so.
However, like any drug, you just need one taste to start the cycle of addiction all over again. By the way, when I call coffee a drug, I’m not trying to make it seem bigger than it is. At the end of the day, coffee is one of the most consumed beverages on this planet. And with considerate moderation, it is also reasonably safe. It also does a decent job of patching up the broken fabrics of nihilism and existentialism in your life with a sense of pep and newfound energy. At least, that’s what it did for me to an extent.
I have a complicated relationship with caffeine. And maybe, I don’t need 150mg+ of it streaming through my veins on a daily basis.
It breaks my heart to say it, but matcha contains a decent amount of caffeine. It’s actually about twice as strong as green tea. At 70mg, you can compare your average cup of matcha to an espresso. Although, I’m willing to bet you that a cup of matcha is going to taste much better.
Although matcha does not get me off caffeine entirely, it’s a step in the right direction. There are many nutrients in matcha that can actually be very beneficial for a person to ingest. Matcha contains a class of antioxidants called catechin. This catechin in matcha is called EGCG or epigallocatechin gallate. Apparently, studies on EGCG have shown that it has the potential to fight cancer in the body.
Along with antioxidants, matcha may help protect your liver, promote heart health, and help you lose weight.
Matcha is prepared by grinding down young tea lives into a green powder. I guess some sacrifices for the greater good must be made. With that in mind, it’s not foolish to say that matcha is the younger brother of green tea. Matcha has more energy. While green tea is reading books, matcha is hitting the gym. I guess it really depends on your lifestyle. At the end of the day, they both have similar personalities and are easy to get along with.
That being said, matcha is way more relaxed than green tea. Almost too relaxed. It’s like matcha just decided to sleep away the entire afternoon on the couch relaxed. Matcha contains theanine. Theanine is an amino acid present in green tea that exhibits a stress-reducing effect. Since matcha is grown and prepared in such a way to maximize the presence of theanine in the powder, you have that to combat the usual jitters and anxiety of regular caffeine consumption.
The end result of this is a caffeine buzz without some of the usual negatives that tend to pop up when you have too much caffeine.
Overall, even if you don’t want to curb your coffee habit entirely, matcha is a great alternative with many additional health benefits. If tea isn’t your thing, you can also prepare it in a smoothie or shake. For myself, I know that I’m feeling a lot more calmer and collected after making the switch. I still find myself looking at those baristas in their shops preparing glamorous cappuccinos at times. Sipping my matcha tea, I wonder when they’ll have the courage to get their life together.
