I have some concerns about consuming green tea or matcha, regarding insomnia, but especially addiction. I used to consume coffee excessively, and it was very difficult to stop consuming large amounts of coffee, which increased my anxiety. Currently, I only consume 98% pure cocoa powder, which improves my well-being to some extent. My interest in green tea is also due to the presence of L-theanine, green tea promotes weight loss to a certain extent, but I have the concerns I mentioned. What can you tell me about your experience regarding the benefits and drawbacks of green tea? And about the addiction it causes? Is it different from coffee?
Green tea and coffee are the common things people in the blue zones take, supposedly make you live longer, caffeine can trigger schizophrenia so I suggest you have some restrain in drinking green tea 
though like 2 cups a day
2 Likes
Hi @swordiebrom. Greetings! Blue Zone studies are interesting. Personally, I quit caffeine because I couldn’t control the addiction. Now, I only consume dark chocolate or high-purity cocoa powder without sugars and low in fat. My question is whether I can control my intake of green tea or if it will be similar to the coffee addiction, or if the addiction will be milder like with dark chocolate…
By the way, I have a personal interest in longevity, lifespan, and healthspan. So, the blue zone studies interest me, and I want to learn more about them.
I found coffee too strong. It would make me paranoid. For me there is a dose response relationship.
I drank matcha about everyday for a year. Quality variability is so high. I would recommend trying various trusted source. First go for a bright colour, then a smooth taste. Cost is an issue where Japanese is best quality you will need to find a brand that sells Japanese in your country to avoid currency conversion and shipping costs.
I also have cacao mass (100%) you can mix it with water or microwave with milk essentially hot chocolate. This also has a small amount of caffeine. Here you want a bitter taste otherwise it has low stimulant qualities.
Lately I have been drinking rooibos with a small amount of loose tea leaves.
You can also do the same where you mix a small amount of matcha into the cacao.
Trick is to figure out how much caffeine is too much this is highly individual. Don’t drink it after 1pm or otherwise stop drinking 8 hours before bed. Ideally you drink say one 90 minutes after you wake up and then if you make additional drinks have a decreasing amount each time
I love matcha lattes, easy to make and healthy. It’s a bit of an acquired taste. At first it feels like drinking lawn clippings. The ones from Starbucks have a fishy smell because they use lower quality matcha.
I’ve lost about ten pounds on green tea, but I think it is mostly due to fluid loss and not fat loss. When I drink my pot of green tea in the morning my kidneys go into overdrive. I urinate a LOT. I do like the L-theanine in green tea, but green tea also has a lot of caffeine. It’s hard to say how much the caffeine affects me because I have drank a lot of caffeine ever since I was fifteen. I’m 65 now.
I love green tea/ matcha, unfortunately I’m allergic to it
Last time I consumed it I ended up in the ER
I prefer white tea. 