If you’ve been a coffee lover for a while but you’re ready to switch things up, you might be surprised to hear that matcha is the perfect coffee replacement.
Matcha is most commonly associated with tea because it is obtained from the same plant as green tea (the camellia sinensis plant). The word matcha is Japanese for ‘ground tea’, so it makes sense that most people associate matcha with tea and not with coffee.
Matcha is one form of green tea that is obtained using slightly different cultivation methods than other forms of teen tea. More specifically, matcha powder is extracted from the tencha leaves just as the leaves are beginning to bud, while they are protected from the sunlight.
This growing process causes the plant to produce more chlorophyll and ramp up the amino acid production. When they are picked and ground up, the resulting powder has a better amino acid profile than other green tea leaves.
So, why is all of this relevant to coffee?
Well, matcha green tea can make the perfect alternative to your traditional cups of coffee because of its nutritional profile and known health benefits.
This bright green powder has the ability to boost your energy without leading to a huge crash just an hour later. It also provides you with beneficial nutrients that can improve your physical and cognitive performance.
You can buy loose matcha powder to stir into your drink or you can get Nespresso matcha pods that you can use in your coffee machine at home. Here at Rejuvenation Water, we have Matcha Energy Health Pods that are compatible with Nespresso coffee machines. All you need to do is open up your matcha pod, pop it in your machine, and wait a few minutes to get your steaming hot, delicious matcha drink.
Why You Should Replace Coffee With Matcha
If you’re reading this and thinking ‘there’s absolutely no way I’m giving up my morning coffee’, keep reading and you might be convinced to convert over to matcha green tea!
Here are some of the key reasons why matcha makes the perfect coffee alternative.
You Won’t Get an Energy Crash
Coffee is one of the most well-known and well-loved stimulants across the world. Despite giving you a huge boost of energy when you first drink it because of the high caffeine content, coffee can also cause huge energy crashes.
The energy-boosting effects of caffeine are temporary and just one or two hours after you drink it, you can quickly start to feel even more tired and fatigued than before. This is why you tend to crave another cup of caffeinated coffee to boost your energy levels back up.
Unlike coffee, matcha green tea does not produce the same crash in energy levels. It has around a third of the caffeine content as coffee so it still has the ability to give you a physical and mental energy boost, but you won’t feel fatigued an hour later.
This is thanks to the L-theanine content in matcha. The L-theanine is able to slow down the release of caffeine in your body, giving you prolonged energy without the dreaded crash.
You Won’t Get the Jitters
For many, just one cup of coffee can bring on the jitters. Caffeine can cause anxiety, shakiness, and heart palpitations due to the changes that it causes in your brain.
Matcha doesn’t cause the same jittery effects as coffee because of the lower caffeine content and the additional plant nutrients.
You Will Gain the Additional Benefits of the Plant Compounds
Matcha green tea is packed full of micronutrients and beneficial plant compounds (phytocompounds).
It also has lots of antioxidants, including a polyphenol called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG can help to lower oxidative stress and inflammation in your body. This can help to lower your risk of many diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia.
The beneficial plant compounds can give your immune system a boost. Vitamins A, C, and E, and minerals such as potassium, calcium, and iron help your immune cells to function optimally. When your immunity is strong, you can fight off potentially harmful bacteria and viruses much more easily and stay healthy.
The chlorophyll found in matcha green tea enhances these immune-boosting effects and helps to detoxify the body. By removing toxins and heavy metals from your body, your organ function, skin health, and immune system will get a boost!
You Will Be Able to Focus More
A lot of us drink coffee to boost our focus. Our Matcha Energy Health Pods can be just as effective as caffeine at improving your mental clarity and concentration.
Thanks to the L-theanine content of matcha and the antioxidant compounds, your attention span, information processing, and memory are improved when you drink a cup of matcha. Plus, it can increase your serotonin and dopamine production, which can enhance your mood and motivation.
Your Teeth Won’t Get Stained
One of the worst side effects of drinking coffee is the stains that it can produce on your teeth. When you drink lots of coffee, it can lead to yellowing of the enamel and bad breath.
Matcha doesn’t produce the same harsh stains on the teeth and doesn’t result in bad breath. Due to its antimicrobial effects, matcha can actually improve your oral health by reducing bacterial growth and plaque build-up.
How to Implement Matcha into Your Diet
So, if we’ve managed to convince you to ditch the caffeinated coffee and swap it for a hot cup of matcha green tea, you might be wondering how you can add matcha into your diet.
Even if you only usually drink one cup of coffee a day, it can be difficult to give it up completely. You don’t need to make a quick switch and completely remove coffee from your diet straight away. Sometimes, taking things more slowly is a better option.
It might be beneficial for you to drink both coffee and matcha for a couple of weeks. If you usually drink two cups of coffee a day, swap one of those for a cup of matcha. If you usually only have one cup of caffeinated coffee in the mornings, alternate between coffee and matcha each day.
To wean yourself off the caffeine, gradually increase your matcha intake and decrease the amount of coffee that you drink. This will reduce any negative effects that can come with reducing your caffeine intake. Eventually, you will be able to switch completely to matcha green tea and you’ll never look back!
Making your morning cup of matcha has never been easier with the Rejuvenation Water Matcha Energy Health Pods. For £9.99, you can get a pack of 10 pods that are compatible with Nespresso coffee machines.
Within just a few minutes, you can have a delicious cup of matcha green tea, making the pods perfect for a morning drink before you head out of the door to work. The pods make it easy to have a frothy and delicious hot drink of matcha without using a whisk.
We are proud to say that all of our pods are compostable and biodegradable. Unlike other coffee pods, our coffee pods can be recycled to reduce any negative impacts on the environment.
