I was always convinced that I couldn’t be a functional human being without a strong cup of coffee every morning. Coffee was part of my identity — I was the friend who was super into coffee — and I was blissfully unaware of how it was making my depression and anxiety worse.
My Story
I thought I needed coffee multiple times a day in order to get my work done, go to the gym, and still have the energy to be social. I had every type of coffee maker (Aeropress, french press, Chemex, Mokapot, single cup pour over, and espresso machine) to brew the perfect cup of coffee to match my mood or the tasks in my daily to-do list. I would make day trips to try out new coffee shops, and would buy multiple bags from indie coffee roasters to find a new favorite. To say that I was addicted to coffee was an understatement, it was ingrained into my way of life.
Nearly a decade ago, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. In the last couple years, my anxiety was reaching crippling levels. I was having panic attacks nearly every week, rollercoaster moods, and felt overwhelmed by the negative, self-defeating thoughts in my head. I was depressed — I didn’t want to leave my apartment, everything I used to enjoy no longer brought joy. I tried prescription drugs, but didn’t like the way I felt on medication. I had been through years of cognitive behavior therapy, but I wasn’t making any significant progress towards healing my anxiety. I experimented with non-medication based treatments, tried Ashwagandha, meditation, cut out inflammatory food groups, and bulked up my supplement routine to cover any nutrient deficiencies — but the anxiety and depression continued.
My boyfriend was doing one of those cleanses where you cut out coffee and only drink herbal and green teas. He told me how much better he felt — much more productive, less jittery, had more energy, and his ADD was more manageable, in fact during the cleanse he was able cut down on his ADD medication. Quitting coffee was one thing I hadn’t tried, and at this point anything was worth a shot if it could improve my mental health.
How I Found Matcha
Desperate for a solution, I decided to quit coffee cold turkey and switch to loose leaf tea. It was a rough couple of weeks, but I did feel less “on edge.” Black tea provided the same bold taste I was missing from coffee, and drinking copious amounts of green tea throughout the day kept me on track, but regular tea wasn’t breaking though the brain fog each morning or powered me through long tasks. It woke me up, but I felt drained after workouts and would fall asleep hours earlier without coffee. My anxiety lessened, probably because my mind didn’t have the energy to overthink everything and spiral into anxiety.
I researched coffee alternatives and discovered matcha. At that time, matcha was just a less caffeinated latte option at my local indie coffee shop . But it’s so much more — not only does it have significantly more caffeine than loose leaf tea (but still much less than coffee), it has a wealth of nutrients and benefits exclusive to matcha. It is well known that matcha has over 100x more antioxidants than green tea [1] but there is less awareness on why matcha provides a non-jittery alertness than coffee, or how it could help improve mental health. It all boils down to matcha’s combination of caffeine and L-theanine (nature’s Xanax). L-theanine, an amino acid, is found almost exclusively in tea, and high-grade matcha tea has the greatest percentage of L-theanine [2]. High grade matcha is the most expensive, but if you’re drinking matcha to reap all its nutritional benefits, it’s important to buy premium or ceremonial tea (more on that later).
What is L-Theanine:
L-theanine is a powerhouse of amino acid if you’re aiming to heal anxiety and depression and improve your cognitive performance.
Effects on Mental Health:
- When compared to popular anti stress herbs, L-theanine is the only compound that reduces anxiety and stress, but also increases mental acuity. L-theanine stimulates alpha-wave activity in the brain within 30–40 minutes, which fosters a state of alert relaxation [2].
- Green tea polyphenols produce antidepressant-like effects, and lowered stress hormones in a mouse model study [3].
- A study on the effects of L-theanine and caffeine, and their combination on cognition and mood found that a caffeine + L-theanine combination led to faster reaction time, faster numeric working memory time, and improved sentence verification accuracy. “Headache” and “tired” ratings were reduced while “alert” ratings increased. The study concluded that beverages containing L-theanine and caffeine, like matcha, have different effects compared to beverages containing only caffeine, like coffee. [6]
- L-theanine produces anxiolytic effects in humans, indicating that it has anti-anxiety properties. A study confirmed that L-theanine may be useful in treating anxiety-associated behaviors [8].
Improvement in Cognitive Performance:
- A 2008 study study published in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience found that a L-theanine + caffeine combination are beneficial for improving performance on cognitively demanding tasks [4].
- A 2010 study showed that L-theanine and caffeine in combination can improve attention [5].
- A combination of green tea extract and L-theanine led to improved memory and selective attention. Brain theta waves, an indicator of cognitive alertness, increased significantly after three hours of taking the combination. [7].
The amount of L-theanine depends on a variety of environmental factors — including climate, rainfall, sunlight, and where the plant is grown. Matcha is grown differently than traditional green tea; in order to harvest the highest-grade ceremonial matcha, the tea plants much be shaded from the sun for the final 20–30 days prior to harvest, which only happens once a year. This protection from the direct sunlight increases chlorophyll by inhibiting photosynthesis in the leaves; restricting photosynthesis also increases the L-theanine content. Matcha tea leaves are only harvested in the spring, and matcha is made from stone-grinding the flat dried tea leaves into a fine powder. If done correctly, this process should result in a lively, neon green matcha with a velvety smooth flavor. Lower grades of matcha, like culinary or latte/smoothie grade, do not follow the laborious process of making high quality matcha — the tea leaves are not shaded long enough, the leaves are steam-dried, the tea is harvested in summer, or the tea plants are grown in China instead of Japan. Lower quality Matcha is a dull, sometimes yellowish green, and don’t have the sweet, vegetal, umami flavor of premium matcha tea.
Making the Switch
Believe me, making the switch from coffee to matcha was no easy feat. Caffeine withdrawals gave me intense migraines, I was extremely irritable, sensitive to light, and for the first couple weeks I cancelled plans and opted for easier workouts as my body adjusted to less caffeine. One of my favorite parts about coffee was the ritualistic brewing process — grinding the beans, making a fresh cup, the kitchen filling with the fragrances of coffee. Matcha was able to fill this void, the Japanese have been drinking matcha for centuries in their tea ceremonies. Starting my day with my own version of a tea ceremony became part of my self-care. Whisking the matcha in my chawan with the chasen, inhaling the sweet, earthly flavors of matcha, and taking a moment to meditate as I sipped my matcha — this not only helped reduce stress in the morning, but replaced the need to have coffee.
We’re also lucky to live in a time when matcha is more readily available and mainstream in the states. Matcha cafes, like Cha Cha Matcha, are popping up in NYC, LA, and other cities. High quality premium matcha is available at Erewhon, Whole Foods, and natural food stores. (Tip — Japanese grocery stores are a hidden find for matcha drinkers, the Japanese brands of ceremonial matcha are usually less expensive than at wellness stores). Trendy cafes are offering matcha lattes along with turmeric and beet lattes. It’s really not difficult to find ceremonial grade premium matcha, and if you live in a wellness desert — you can order it online from Goop, CAP Beauty, and Cha Cha Matcha’s online store.
What it did to my body
I’ve been “off” coffee for about 9 months and my mental wellbeing has never been better. As much as I miss coffee, I know that the improvements in my mental health significantly outweigh drinking coffee. I’ve cheated a couple times, and have ordered single shot lattes on long road trips, or had a sip of my boyfriend’s coffee when I was really missing it. Remarkably my anxiety levels return to pre-matcha within 30 minutes of having coffee — I’ve just accepted that I can’t drink coffee.
The effects of ditching coffee for matcha have been life-changing. My anxiety has nearly vanished, and without coffee, I can manage anxiety attacks as they start and can shut them down. Utilizing cognitive behavior therapy is much easier and I’ve made meditation a much more frequent practice. When paired with matcha, I feel completely in control of my mental health and can stop my inner self-critic as soon as those thoughts creep in. My depression has subsided — in general I’m in much better moods and no longer feel extremely sad waking up in the morning. I find happiness in little moments, and doing my favorite things spark joy again. My boyfriend says I’m a completely different person not drinking coffee, its like all the moodiness and anxiety that I believed were part of my personality have disappeared.
Aside from healing my anxiety and depression, swapping matcha for coffee has improved other facets of my life. I sleep better, am more alert at work, and have been more productive now that self-defeating thoughts don’t occupy most of my time. My skin has significantly improved thanks to matcha’s high Vitamin C content — my skin is no longer perpetually dehydrated and is brighter. My acne has gone away, except for the monthly PMS related breakout or the morning after an over indulgent evening. I feel more alert, lighter, and overall more relaxed and happy. My body has adjusted to consuming less caffeine and drinking matcha for energy is my now new normal.
