If you ask the average Jamaican what they drink in the mornings many would reply tea, however, a large set would say coffee. For the coffee drinkers, a large subset drink more than one cup per day. Why? Because they “need” to. Because one cup is not enough. Because after a few hours it wears off. Because one cup just doesn’t work.
In the same breath, some of us turn to energy drinks for that extra boost, not necessarily in the mornings but sometime in the day or night. When you are super tired and the boss needs the report on his desk first thing in the morning what do you do? Drink three cups of coffee or an energy drink? No? Not you? Okay, I’m sure some of you can relate to this one: You had a long day at the beach and unfortunately you have to drive everyone home. The person in the front who is there to keep you up, as expected, falls asleep. You have no choice but to pop open that energy drink…right?
Have you read the back of one of those? I have. I don’t know what half of the ingredients are, and I can’t even pronounce the other half. There hardly is anything natural about them and I won’t even bother getting into the R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S amount of sugar! Let me give you an option that is all natural and sugar-free. Let’s talk about Matcha!
Matcha & Caffeine
Let me start off by stating a fact that many people don’t know. All teas from the tea plant contain caffeine. Yes, you read that correctly. So this means black, white and green tea all have caffeine. However, though Matcha has caffeine, there is one amazing property that makes the caffeine in Matcha better than that of coffee.
The caffeine you get from coffee releases its energy all at once, which can leave you feeling jittery or shaky. I for one was an occasional coffee drinker, but I had to stop because of this. I always felt anxious, and my heart would have palpitations. Scary, I know. Also because coffee releases all its energy at once, after your energy boost you may experience an energy crash, which could leave you feeling worse than you did in the first place. Does this sound familiar?
So what about Matcha? Matcha gives you long-lasting, sustainable energy. There is no sharp spike and crash. This is due to the presence of the amino acid L-Theanine that naturally occurs in the tea-plant. L-theanine causes a slow-release of caffeine. This means, instead of getting a rush of energy that may cause jitters, caffeine is slowly and steadily released in your body keeping you energized for hours. On average, your Matcha energy lasts 4-6 hours. To add to this, L-Theanine also has the ability to make you feel calm, relaxed and alert. The Japanese refer to this feeling as “calm alertness”. Matcha, therefore, keeps you energized but also calms you down. Now, that sounds more like a morning drink!
L-theanine is pretty amazing. It triggers the release of serotonin in the brain, which acts as a mood booster. So you literally feel good after drinking Matcha. If you are one that suffers from depression, Matcha just might help! L-theanine also boosts alpha brain waves which are associated with a heightened state of alertness. It interacts with the caffeine to sharpen brain function and boost cognitive performance. In addition to l-theanine, Matcha also has a ton of other amazing health benefits. So, drinking Matcha as a coffee or energy drink replacement will do wonders for your body.
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