Coffee Has Met its Match(a) (Draft)

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 devotion, with many considering coffee an essential part of their day-to-day routines. However, the downside to this is that coffee has many negative aspects–the crash, the anxiety, the sleep loss. No one is willing to give up their early morning brew knowing it's their only chance for a boost of energy. It’s a common problem of a positive outweighing the many negatives, but what if I told you there was a solution to all of this? Luckily there is, and you will enjoy it so matcha.

What is matcha? Matcha is a high-grade green tea ground into powdered form. 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 benefits–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 to your dogs when your parents weren't looking, but now as an adult, you struggle to fit in your daily veggies with hopes of living a healthier lifestyle. Look no further because matcha might be your solution. This is because matcha has high amounts of antioxidants. What are antioxidants? These are the substances that play a role in fighting against heart disease, cancer, along with other diseases. 

Not only is matcha better for your physical health, but it is also better for your well-being. One serving of Matcha contains about 30 – 70 % as much caffeine as one cup of coffee. Matcha, however, gives you clean focused energy without the jitteriness, nervousness, or crash that coffee caffeine gives you. How does it do this you ask? Matcha contains high amounts of L-theanine, an amino acid that helps reduce the stress hormone (cortisol) in our bodies. This calms the nervous system while simultaneously increasing focus. L-Theanine works together with the tea caffeine to give a calm, focused, clean energy.

One study among workers in Japan aged 20 to 68 years found that, compared to individuals who drank less than one cup of green tea per day, those who drank over four cups of green tea per day had a 51% lower chance of having depressive symptoms after researchers accounted for other factors.

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

Not only is matcha better for you personally, but it is also better for the planet. Matcha is the only kind of tea that uses the entire leaf so it offers environmental advantages that other varieties of tea do not. "A typical tea plant that is used to produce matcha can live for a half-century or more, making it one of the most sustainable and environmental food crops in existence." By using the whole leaf, matcha requires less waste than other types of tea (which only use part of the leaf). Additionally, because tea only requires harvesting a plant's leaves, growers get a lot of longevity out of a single plant—making teas of all kinds (but especially matcha!) a pretty sustainable choice.

It's also important to look at the environmental impact of matcha relative to alternative beverages, such as coffee. It reportedly takes 37 gallons of water to produce a single cup of coffee, which is the equivalent of a whole shower—and in our drought-ridden modern-day world, that's not going to cut it. Coffee crops also often use harmful pesticides and chemicals, which can seep into waterways and cause pollution and environmental destruction.

Work Cited

Kochman, Joanna, et al. “Health Benefits and Chemical Composition of Matcha Green Tea: A Review.” Molecules, vol. 26, no. 1, Dec. 2020, p. 85. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26010085.

Pham, Ngoc Minh et al. “Green tea and coffee consumption is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in a Japanese working population.” Public health nutrition vol. 17,3 (2014): 625-33. doi:10.1017/S1368980013000360