If you have ever been curious about how Matcha and coffee compare in terms of health benefits, you have come to the right spot. After a lot of testing, research, and conversations, I have uncovered the pros and cons of each beverage. 

After I discuss this topic, I’ll share MY personal story with coffee/matcha and when I drink one over the other…yes, there is always a method behind my madness. 

The whole shebang is on my blog - link in bio! 

Once you read the post tell me - is matcha the new coffee?! 😜

Overview of Matcha:

Okay, let’s start with a basic overview of matcha, and then I’ll get into the pros/cons. There are two grades of Matcha: ceremonial grade and culinary grade. Ceremonial tea is more expensive, and it generally has a better taste and smell. This is the grade recommended for making traditional matcha teas and matcha lattes. Culinary, which you find at most cafes and in stores, ranges in cost and quality. This grade is commonly used for baking and cooking recipes

Essentially a concentrated form of green tea, Matcha is known to have a smooth, umami taste that’s a bit grassy-spinachy to match its bright green color. HOWEVER, the better the quality, the less astringent it will be. In fact, high-quality ceremonial grade matcha will have naturally sweet tasting notes. This was a game-changer for me in terms of me starting to like matcha.

I wrote a whole blog post on “how to tell if your matcha is high quality” HERE so if you’re curious about this topic, definitely check it out. On that note, I’ll go ahead and share the brand of matcha I consume because I know I’ll get a bunch of DM’s asking later. I choose Matcha Kari Matcha (matcha.com) because it meets all of the high-quality requirements I talk about in my blog post mentioned earlier and was the sole reason I started liking matcha. Naturally sweet, creamy, and goes down so easy leaving me feeling energized and clear without anxiety or jitters because of the high L-theanine content. 

Okay, where were we…ah yes, my favorite part: HEALTH BENEFITS OF MATCHA

 

The antioxidants in Matcha provide drinkers with a lot of health benefits that range from being helpful to lifesaving:

• Lowers blood pressure

• Lowers Cholesterol

• Fights cancer

• Anti-aging properties

• Boosts metabolism

• Helps weight loss

• Fights heart disease

• Lowers blood sugar

• long, steady energy

• improves mood and sleep

• lower in caffeine

• no jitters, palpitations, or caffeine crashes

Overall PROS:

• Easy to make

• Unique flavor

• Many health benefits

• The powder can be used in many recipes

 

Overall CONS:

• Quality can differ 

• Not as quick as brewing a cup of coffee 

Overview of Coffee:

I’ll spare you the origin of coffee (since most people are familiar with what coffee looks like, how it’s brewed, etc), however, you should know that like matcha, not all coffee beans are created equal!!

The data on coffee consumption goes back and forth.  Some studies show health benefits, while others show negative outcomes.  This might seem confusing, but the reason is simple: bad coffee is bad for you, and scientists don’t differentiate types of coffee (organic versus conventional, different processing methods, sourcing of the beans, etc.) when they run studies on coffee.

This means the coffee beans are almost always contaminated with mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are damaging compounds created by molds that grow on coffee beans (among other things).  These naturally-occurring mold toxins can be carcinogenic and impair the immune system. Moldy coffee also gives you jitters and increases brain fog. 

Decaf Coffee (spoiler alert: I don’t love it from a health standpoint)

Now don’t get me started on decaf coffee…yep it’s even worse.  Caffeine is a natural anti-insect and antifungal defense mechanism for the plant.  It deters mold and other organisms from growing on the beans.  Mold is everywhere, but caffeine helps prevent it from growing on the beans while they’re in storage. When you remove the caffeine, your beans are defenseless.  Decaf coffee is higher in both aflatoxin and ochratoxin. One of the reasons decaf can sometimes taste fowl (in my opinion at least). 

Of course, coffee is not all bad! Like I was saying, well-sourced coffee has many health benefits in moderation! 

• Increased energy

• Better athletic performance

• Supports brain health

• Helps weight loss/management

• Reduces risk of liver issues

• Helps with depression

• Promotes heart health

• Increase life expectancy

• Lowers risk of type 2 diabetes

Overall PROS:

• Many options for brewing and drinking 

• Many health benefits 

• Vasy amount of buying options

• Can be used in other recipes 

Overall CONS:

• Quality can vary

• A vast amount of buying options (also a con because of the sourcing issue I talked about earlier)

• Too much can cause anxiety, jitters, heart palpitations 

• Too much can interfere with blood glucose control

As you can see, there are fewer cons to matcha than coffee, but the real reasons I started to incorporate matcha into my routine reads below…

MY PERSONAL USE OF MATCHA VERSUS COFFEE: 

Let’s get personal for a hot sec. I’ve always been a lover of coffee for the morning ritual and frankly, I love the taste of an organic cup of joe. However, over the past couple of years, I noticed my irregular heart palpitations were getting worse the week before my cycle and so were my PMS symptoms. I should also note that I only had one cup of well-sourced, organic coffee a day so it wasn’t like the palpitations were happening because I was having a ridiculous amount of caffeine. Turns out caffeine affects our hormones in the way I just described - PMS and irregular heartbeats! I was onto something. 

The hormone connection

So how does caffeine affect our hormones? Well, drinking coffee on an empty stomach before breakfast can sabotage your blood sugar which has an effect on your hormones. When blood sugar goes up in response to eating a high-sugar food or, in this case, in response to drinking coffee before breakfast, our body produces the hormone insulin to deal with all the sugar in our bloodstream. This is a natural, normal, life-sustaining physiological response. We need insulin to stay alive.

The problem is when blood sugar rises too high - Blood sugar surges and so does insulin, and those spikes interfere with ovulation, which messes up progesterone production and contributes to one of the most common, and most troublesome, hormone imbalances: estrogen dominance. 

Overexposure to sugar and insulin can also contribute to fat storage and weight gain, and that can make estrogen dominance even worse. Add all this together with the synthetic estrogens we’re exposed to in the environment, and you’re set up for progesterone deficiency, estrogen dominance, and symptom-causing hormone imbalances. Hormone imbalances are why women in their reproductive years experience problems like PMS (acne, bloating, mood swings), infertility, heavy or irregular cycles, and even those uncomfortable heart palpitations I described! 

When I grab matcha during my cycle 

Since switching to matcha before during my luteal phase (the week or so before your cycle starts) and while I’m bleeding, my PMS, insomnia, and palpitations are practically non-existent!!! My clients can also attest to this positive change in their cycles! 

I also drink matcha over coffee when I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. You may find that counterintuitive that I choose a beverage with less caffeine when I’m more tired, but it all comes down to blood sugar regulation again. When you don’t sleep well, you naturally wake up with higher blood sugar so drinking coffee will only spike it higher leading to sugary cravings and crashes of energy that leave you reaching for more coffee; especially during that 3 pm slump.

I also LOVE that Matcha tea is loaded with antioxidant power, more so than coffee and L-theanine. L-theanine is responsible for matcha’s sweeter note tastes and its ability to naturally lower blood pressure, increase focus, reduce anxiety and stress, improve immunity, boost quality sleep, and even help aid in tumor and cancer treatment and Matcha Kari’s premium and ceremonial grade matcha is of the highest quality, lab tested with highly concentrated levels of L-theanine in every serving.

Conclusion 

So is matcha the new coffee? For me personally, it seems it very well may be. If you want to optimize your health, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from enjoying a cup of matcha tea instead of coffee.

 

If you make the switch, let me know!! I love hearing from you guys :)

And before I forget, I have a code for you guys!! Use code: KLEANMATCHA for 20% off your first purchase from matcha.com. If you want to learn more about which matcha is best for you, check out their IG page @matchakari. 

Much love,

Kirsten xoxo