“What IS that?” and “How do you drink that?” are phrases I’ve become all too familiar with since becoming hooked on matcha. If you haven’t been bit by the matcha bug yet I am truly sorry for your loss, because it is the best thing to happen to me since the release of "Naked 2." Yeah. Let that sink in. I can’t stop singing the praises of this magical elixir that allows me to be the bad-ass diva that I truly am without running around cracked out like one too many cups of coffee makes me do. (Seriously, I start to twitch, it’s really not a good look.) If you get in-between me and my morning matcha fix, it will be ugly–almost as ugly as I am hungover without under eye concealer and last night’s eyeliner smeared across my face, which is saying something. Here’s why drinking matcha changed my life:
1. It allows my brain to function like a normal human being.
I’ve never felt this kind of mental clarity sans Adderall, but matcha doesn’t come with the side effects of this study drug extraordinaire. You feel competent and alert, but chill. I can’t express enough how AWESOME this is. I’ve excelled both at work and in school since switching to matcha in March, not to toot my own horn.
2. Copious amounts of caffeine.
I’ve been hitting the hard stuff since I was a freshman in high school, but my caffeine addiction started in the sixth grade when my mom would bring me a refreshing cup of cold Lipton Brisk lemon iced tea in the morning to get me up for school. If I don’t have caffeine in my system within an hour of waking up, I will have a splitting migraine rendering me useless until I make it to the motherland (Starbucks). Matcha has about three times the amount of caffeine as regular coffee, but since you mix it in with water, it hydrates you simultaneously. It’s a freaking miracle!
3. Antioxidant Rich AF.
Matcha contains a crazy amount of antioxidants, coupled with a long list of health benefits that include detoxifying, lowering blood pressure, anti-aging, and heart disease prevention. It also has been proven to boost your metabolism. It’s basically liquid botox and lipo, plus it halts the growth of cancer cells, so there is literally nothing matcha can’t and won’t do for you. I can instantaneously feel my body shift the minute I take my first sip, craving the various nutrients it’s getting.
4. Filled with fiber.
For a girl who loves white starches as much as she loves a good gin and tonic and the Nordstom Anniversary Sale, I can never get enough fiber. Fiber is arguably one of the most important food groups and the least appreciated (I’m lookin at you Raisin Bran, ily), but unless you’re a health nut, the average college student does not get enough fiber in their diet. Matcha will help get you movin in every sense of the term.
I could write a novel about my love affair with matcha, but I’ll end on this note: You’re only hurting yourself if you don’t try it. Fine by me if you want to live a less enlightened life, but I for one plan on conquering the world some day with my matcha in hand. Here’s what I order: One venti iced water with three scoops of matcha, one pump of classic, shaken. Speaking of, it’s time to make a Starbucks run! Xo
