I Finally Quit Coffee, Replaced It With Matcha & Have One Huge Regret
I've had coffee or espresso every day of my adult life starting in high school, almost never missing a day. I've contemplated giving up coffee in vain, but never did it full stop because the taste is divine and the morning ritual kept me grounded—or so I thought. Deep down, I’ve always been afraid to quit coffee cold turkey because it feels like it’s part of who I am. And when I gave it up for a cleanse, I'd experience a full five days of withdrawal headaches. Oy vey.
But coffee was always there for me. American culture seems to have positioned it to be a magical potion, and I bought into it big time. Feeling tired? Coffee. Stressed? Coffee. Need an emotional pick-me-up? Coffee. Afternoon slump? Coffee. Instead of approaching it from a functional standpoint, coffee became a mental and emotional crutch.
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What changed my relationship with coffee.
It didn't give me any problems until my late 20s, when I started experiencing dizzy spells, heart palpitations, and full-on panic attacks for the first time in my life. If I forgot to eat even one meal or snack, I’d go into low-blood-sugar mode and get the shakes, which would induce a wave of panic. Tunnel vision, tingly limbs, and a terrifying feeling of not being able to trust my body would ensue. Sometimes I felt like I was going to pass out. Others, I needed to find something to eat immediately and rest. But I didn't trace it back to coffee, nor did my doctors.
I'd had matcha before and wasn't sold—it was too grassy and bitter for my taste. But after a trip to a matcha shop near work, I decided it was time to try a full month of matcha. For me, the tipping point was convenience. I don't brew coffee at home; I buy it daily, so being able to pick up a matcha was key. Also, it was February—the shortest month of the year—I figured I could do it for 28 days. And so I did.
I'm not gonna lie; the first week was rough. I endured withdrawal headaches, but they were never as bad as relinquishing caffeine altogether. I also learned the hard lesson that not all matcha is created equal. I got a few matchas at other restaurants and matcha shops in the city, but none were as good as the single-origin Hikari I was drinking. "Single origin" means it all comes from the same farm and allows for better quality control. If you're switching from coffee to matcha, I recommend getting a higher grade, at least at first, to help with the taste.
Here are the benefits I experienced when I gave up coffee and replaced it with matcha.
1. Anxiety decreased, big time.
Matcha does have less caffeine than coffee, and it varies depending on how much matcha you add to your drink and how much coffee you drink, but the matcha I was drinking has 34 milligrams of caffeine per serving, versus 95 milligrams in a typical cup of coffee. Before matcha, I would get bouts of anxiety during the day that seemed to come from nowhere—simply sitting at my desk, heart racing. Or, if anxiety was prompted by a stimulus like loud music or a crowded subway, it would spiral out of control quickly. After a month of matcha, this stopped completely. There are even preliminary animal studies that show matcha may have stress-reducing properties1—however more research is needed to confirm similar affects in humans.
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2. I saved a lot of money making my morning beverages at home.
Hannah Habes, matcha expert and founder of Matchaful, hooked me up with an at-home matcha kit to use on weekends. I never thought I'd enjoy the ritual of making warm drinks at home, but now I make morning matchas more often than not. As a result, I'm saving $20 to $25 a week, which really adds up.
3. I had more energy.
I learned this was thanks to L-theanine, an energy-boosting amino acid found in green tea that's been shown to boost memory2, slow cognitive decline, and overall make you feel calmer cognitively3. Depending on how your body metabolizes coffee and how you take your coffee, it can give you an energy burst, but that often comes with a crash later on. That's the case for me, but I don't think I even realized until feeling the slow burn of matcha. Buh-bye, 4 p.m. slump.
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4. I realized how much of my day was structured around coffee.
Starting my day with coffee was a no-brainer, but I was always thinking about my next meal to avoid the shakes or picking up my energy levels from the crash. When drinking coffee, I'd eat more to balance out the acid and anxiety-inducing effects. With matcha, eating intuitively comes more easily. I started to notice this close to a month in.
Moving forward, I'm going to stick to matcha save for one day a week. I'll always love the taste of espresso, but now that my body has "recalibrated" from the cumulative effects of coffee, it can handle the intensity. My only regret is not trying it sooner.
The takeaway.
If you find that coffee may have too much caffeine or is giving you unwanted side-effects, matcha may be for you. In fact there's been decent research so far about the benefits on energy, stress-reduction, and cognitive health.
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Lindsay Kellner is a freelance writer, editor and content strategist based out of Brooklyn, NY. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism and psychology at New York University and earned a 200-hour yoga certification from Sky Ting. She is the co-author of “The Spirit Almanac: A Modern Guide to Ancient Self Care,” along with mbg’s Sustainability Editor, Emma Loewe.