Coffee has become a staple of our morning routines, and it’s not surprising with 16,095 Starbucks branches aligning US street corners. But what if I told you there was a better way to get your morning kick? That way is going herbal.
Stop rolling a joint, that’s not what I meant. Herbal tea is the way forward. Especially the green variety. Green Tea still contains enough caffeine to give you an ample jolt of mental and physical energy without the negative side effects of coffee. The green stuff in fact contains around three times less caffeine than a cup of coffee.
Anyone who has suffered from anxiety or panic attacks can attest to the negative side of coffee. The high amounts of caffeine instantly affects the central nervous system. It can make people with anxiety even more anxious, and it can make the calmest of hands jittery. That’s even before the guaranteed coffee crash later in the day. High dosages of coffee can also affect our circadian clock and hinder our ability to fall asleep. It can take 10 hours for caffeine to leave our system at high doses.
A 2015 study showed that caffeine can induce anxiety and make it worse. The study stated that “Caffeine, besides influencing cognitive performance, increases the perception of alertness and wakefulness and sometimes induces anxiety, especially at high doses”.
Green Tea for Anxiety
Green Tea contains L-theanine — an amino acid that promotes a state of calm alertness. Your mind instantly feels sharper, and you feel like being more productive as you drink Green Tea. It doesn’t give you that “wired” feeling that coffee sometimes does. There is a certain serenity to the energy that Green Tea provides.
The lower amounts of caffeine in Green Tea compared to coffee means that anxiety isn’t induced. Green Tea provides a calming effect for people with anxiety. The feeling of wellbeing it provides can also increase self-confidence.
Green Tea for Depression
Coffee can be a useful tool for people with depression as it acts and an almost instantaneous pick me up. People who suffer from insomnia also utilize coffee if they’ve had a poor night’s sleep, but this can negatively affect getting to sleep the following night. This is why Green Tea is an excellent substitute for coffee. Green Tea keeps you on more of an even keel than coffee. The feeling of calmness and serenity it provides is perfect for people with depression and the lower caffeine content means it won’t hinder the sleep of people with insomnia even further.
Matcha Power
Once you go herbal and start drinking Green Tea you might enjoy the taste and the feeling of calmness but certain days you might want to have a trick up your sleeve. If you’ve had a bad night’s sleep and need a real good kick in the ass, Matcha will provide that kick. Matcha contains about 70mg of caffeine which is roughly half of what a standard coffee contains.
Matcha is a form of Green Tea that shielded from sunlight longer than regular Green Tea. This makes the leaves darker. It is then ground into a powder.
The L-Theanine in Matcha reduces how quickly the body absorbs caffeine. The caffeine from Matcha is released slowly into the body, providing a longer and smoother energy boost. In contrast, coffee releases caffeine into the body at a much higher pace. This makes adrenaline spike and can affect glucose and insulin levels. Matcha can provide 3-6 hours of energy compared to coffee’s splash and crash nature.
Health Benefits of Green Tea
Not only does Green Tea provide a more sustainable and serene energy boost compared to coffee but it also provides more health benefits. Both Green Tea and its bigger brother Matcha contain powerful antioxidants protecting cells and tissues from damage.
Green Tea and Match can also lower the risk of heart disease as they improve total cholesterol, bad cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood sugar levels.
To top it off, Green Tea in its various forms boosts your metabolic rate which in turn burns more calories. This means that it can aid fat loss. You may see Green Tea extract in various weight loss supplements. Matcha is particularly potent for fat loss.
Check out the benefits of even more herbal teas here.
If you suffer from anxiety or depression, learn how we overcame both with our Beat Anxiety & Depression Guide.
You can also get our free Improve Your Mindset Guide.
