Coffee Has Met its Match(a)

Did you know that over 50% of adults in America drink a cup of coffee every day? This means that over 150 million people share a cup of joe together, spanning from coast to coast, from morning to night. The coffee endemic in the United States has become a sweet devotion, with many considering coffee an essential part of their day-to-day routines. However, while people enjoy the boost of energy from a cup of coffee, they are also the first to experience the crash, the anxiety, and the sleep loss. Few are willing to give up their early morning brew—a common problem of a positive outweighing the many negatives. What if I told you there was a solution that only held the positives? Luckily there is, and you will enjoy it so matcha.

What is matcha? Matcha is a high-grade green tea ground into powdered form (Kochman 2020). Using just a teaspoon mixed with water or your milk of choice, you can receive all the benefits of coffee and more, while simultaneously indulging in a smooth, creamy, caffeinated coffee alternative. If I haven't sold you yet, I am going to explain why the switch from coffee to matcha is the right choice not only for its overwhelming health benefits, but also for its distinct sustainable attributes.

It’s so Matcha Better for your Health

If the decadent taste of the green tea powder is not enough for you, then maybe the unwavering health benefit—both physically and mentally—will convince you to make the switch. 

Remember the days when your parents would make you eat all your vegetables before leaving the dinner table? As a child, you could afford to feed your leafy greens to your dogs when your parents weren't looking. Now as an adult trying to live a healthy lifestyle, you struggle to fit in your daily veggies. Matcha just might be your solution. This is because green tea contains high amounts of antioxidants—the substances in your food that play a role in fighting against heart disease, cancer, along with other diseases (Jakubczyk 2020). They are commonly found in vegetables which is why leafy greens have always been so desirable in your diet. Matcha, though, has an overwhelming amount of antioxidants, with a teaspoon holding sixty times more than a single serving of spinach. With the switch to matcha, you can enjoy a tasty caffeinated beverage while also protecting yourself from cancer and heart disease! 

Not only is matcha better for your physical health, but it is also recommended for your well-being when compared to coffee. Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world. Also considered to be a stimulant drug, caffeine is often consumed at alarming rates with the intention of heightening alertness. The high caffeine levels in coffee are known to give similar effects to other psychoactive drugs–such as alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine–and have been found to lead to dependency and addiction. The World Health Organization went as far as declaring caffeine addiction as a clinical disorder in 2012. While mathcha only holds 30-70% of the caffeine content compared to coffee, this actually serves as a good thing. With lower amounts of caffeine, it lessens chances of addiction while still containing enough to support increased energy and alertness (Dietz, Dekker & Piqueras-Fiszman 2017). 

Additionally, the caffeine in coffee is known for causing a crash while simultaneously leading to symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, and dizziness. Matcha, however, provides a clean and steady energy without the restlessness, headaches, or crash that coffee gives you.This is because matcha contains high amounts of L-theanine—an amino acid that aids in lowering the stress hormone in the body (Kochman). Not only does this calm the nervous system but it simultaneously increases concentration. This is why matcha promotes a relaxed, focused, clear energy. 

One study found that among workers between the ages of 20 to 68 in Japan who drank over four cups of green tea per day, had a 51% lower chance of having depressive symptoms when compared to people who drank less than one cup per day (Pham 2014). It’s incredibly important to protect your physical and mental health with pandemics, disease, and mental illness becoming more prevalent than ever–luckily matcha does both.

It's Not Easy Being Green, But it is Easy Drinking Green

If all the personal benefits were not enough to convince you to introduce matcha into your daily routine, then maybe its many sustainable attributes will. When comparing coffee and matcha’s carbon footprint––or rather the total amount of greenhouse gasses that are generated by the actions of growing, harvesting, and packaging—matcha comes out on top as the more sustainable choice by a landslide. Scientists have estimated for every kilogram of green tea, 1.9 kilograms of carbon dioxide is produced. This carbon footprint is incredibly low compared to coffee which produces 15.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilogram of coffee–that's over eight times more emissions produced from a single serving (Xu, Hu, Wang X., Wang, D., & Knudsen, 2019).

Additionally, the longevity of the plant that produces matcha makes it a much more environmentally conscious option when compared to coffee. The tea plant that is used to grow matcha is capable of living for half of a century (or sometimes even longer), making it one of the most sustainable food crops in existence. Coffee plants often live half of this time frame. This is because tea only needs to harvest the plant's leaves, resulting in a longevity that coffee plants do not see.

In addition to longevity, matcha also requires less water than other caffeine alternatives. According to a 2007 study, a standard cup of coffee uses approximately 140 liters of water–considering the entire process of growing all the way to serving. Matcha, however, uses a dramatically less amount of water. A standard cup of matcha was found to use close to 34 liters of water (Chapagain & Hoekstra 2007). In our drought-ridden world, the distinction of carbon footprints, lifespan, and water usage between matcha and coffee makes all the difference when protecting our planet. It’s time to start making the sustainably conscious choice and start drinking green–literally and physically. 

It’s a Matcha Made in Heaven

Hopefully, by now I have you sold on why the switch from coffee to matcha is undeniable. Not only does matcha procure incredible health benefits, it is also vastly better for the environment when compared to its caffeine alternative. So the day that you find yourself reaching for a matcha and feeling incredibly energized without the crash, anxiety, and insomnia from coffee–you’ll realize that coffee has finally met its matcha. 

Work Cited

Chapagain, A., & Hoekstra, A. (2007). The water footprint of coffee and tea consumption in the Netherlands. Ecological Economics, 64(1), 109–118. 

Dietz, C., Dekker, M., & Piqueras-Fiszman, B. (2017). An intervention study on the effect of matcha tea, in drink and snack bar formats, on mood and cognitive performance. Food Research International, 99, p. 72–83.

Jakubczyk, K. (2020) Antioxidant Properties and Nutritional Composition of Matcha Green Tea. Foods, vol. 9, no. 4, p. 483. 

Kochman, J. (2020) Health Benefits and Chemical Composition of Matcha Green Tea: A Review. Molecules, vol. 26, no. 1, p. 85.

Pham, N. M. (2014). Green tea and coffee consumption is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in a Japanese working population. Public health nutrition vol. 17, no. 3, p. 625-33.

Xu, Q., Hu, K., Wang, X., Wang, D., & Knudsen, M. T. (2019). Carbon footprint and primary energy demand of organic tea in China using a life cycle assessment approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 233, 782–792.