5 Reasons Matcha is Better Than Coffee
February 18, 2021
Whether you prefer a traditional whisked matcha with hot water, or a matcha oat milk latte, there are a lot of exciting options for matcha beverages.
Matcha is getting a lot of buzz these days, but why are so many people giving up their coffee routine in favor of matcha beverages?
Here are a few of the reasons – but it’s far from an exhaustive list!
- Matcha is easy to make and there’s no waste!
Unlike coffee, there are no waste byproducts to your morning matcha preparation! Matcha powder is produced from finely ground green tea leaves (and high-quality matcha like DōMatcha® is made from specially processed tencha green tea leaves, whereas some inferior brands use sencha leaves and add fillers like rice powder or sweeteners).
When you whisk and drink matcha, you’re drinking the actual powdered tea leaf, giving you far more nutritional benefits than brewed green tea. Brewed coffee, on the other hand, is an infusion of hot water in coffee beans, leaving you with soggy coffee grinds to clean up. With matcha, you can rinse your bowl and whisk clean and move on with your day!
- The power of L-theanine
Matcha is one of nature’s largest sources of L-theanine, a very special amino acid that can induce a state of focus and calm and have a positive effect on mental wellness. As matcha has a high L-theanine content, it works synergistically with the caffeine content in matcha, tempering the energizing effect of caffeine to help prevent any energy spikes or jitters, and helping you concentrate instead. Matcha is great as a workday beverage for this reason – a state of improved alertness and performance is great to have on the job!
- ORAC Value and Antioxidants
ORAC Value stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity and is a way to quantify how many antioxidants are present in a substance. Matcha has a much higher amount of antioxidants per gram than coffee – its ORAC value is a whopping 1284 per single gram, much more than many of the most antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables.
The most powerful antioxidant catechin in matcha is called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG for short) and it has a whole host of benefits for your body. Because with matcha you are consuming the actual powdered leaf rather than an infusion like with brewed green tea, you receive many more nutritive benefits from a cup of matcha, especially given that tencha leaves are partially shade-grown, which boosts chlorophyll and amino acid production.
- Wards off bad breath
Believe it or not, green tea can assist your oral health! Plain matcha (without any sugar or dairy or nut milks added) has a number of possible benefits that are just beginning to be studied, such as potentially helping reduce oral bacteria, which are one of the causes of bad breath. Although this hasn’t been proved conclusively, a number of studies, including one from Harvard University, suggest that green tea consumption is associated with oral health. Matcha doesn’t cause dry mouth, unlike coffee, which is why “coffee breath” can be so awful.
- Alkaline not acidic
Coffee is a fairly acidic food, meaning its pH value is below 7 on a scale of 0-14. Depending on the method of brewing and variables in the coffee beans, coffee acidity can vary, but it’s usually around 4.8-5.10 pH. Many people, especially those who experience digestive health conditions like acid reflux or IBS, find that drinking coffee can trigger digestive discomfort.