You might have seen some ads recently that are pretty angry at coffee.
Bleep coffee
“We not mad at coffee, we are just disappointment”
and
“Break up with your coffee”
Etc.
The company that is behind this anti-coffee campaigns is
Wud Water… and it’s spelled like this: WUD/WTR
First of all… I like my coffee and I don’t have no plans to “break up with coffee”
But, after trying this drink, I gotta say… I get it.
My name is Natalia Christine, in this article we are looking at my experience with MUDWTR after about 6 months.
We are looking at why this product is selling incredibly well.
And also we examine the question, and for some of us it’s a very painful question…
Is coffee really that healthy for us?
So if you’ve ever had coffee in your life, hit that like button and let’s get started.
So first of all, the search trends for “coffee alternative” is increasing..
More and more people are looking to replace coffee and caffeine in general with something else. Something that helps them stay sharp, feel good, but without the downsides of coffee.
Often people turn to something like tea, but here in America for example, for some reason tea just hasn’t taken hold.
Sure people like their matcha lattes, but that’s more milkshake than tea.
Also, coffee is just great for getting… stuff… done.
I’m an engineer in the bio tech space and I can tell you first hand, most of our science here in the US runs on caffeine.
If we ever lose that will set us back decades.
That’s changing with the younger kids that are coming out of college, but still, the US and most of the world is fueled by caffeine.
Now we will get into why that matters later, but it’s important to understand that caffeine is a stimulant.
The way stimulants work is they “borrow” energy from the future.
These are great if you need to really focus for an hour or two and then you can relax. A lot of college kids start using coffee and other stimulants to study and to take exams.
They get their energy and attention boosts, their young metabolisms clear it out of the system and they are good to go.
As we continue using coffee for years and decades… the cost/benefit of coffee begins to shift.
We get less energy and a lot more of the negative stuff which we will get into later.
So what’s the alternative?
Coffee Alternative
Well a lot of people are turning to adaptogens to give them energy and fuel their brains during the day.
Adaptogens and plants and mushrooms that have some interesting effects on us. I won’t go into details here, but basically think of stimulants as creating energy now at a cost later.
While adaptogens raise our overall energy level over time as we continue taking them.
The most commonly known adaptogen is Ginseng, but there are others ones, specifically:
- Ashwagandha
- Cordyceps
- Eleuthero
- Rhodiola
Etc
I’m personally a big fan and have been using a number of the plants and mushrooms to improve performance at work and studying without relying on stimulants.
So… Mud Water. What’s in this stuff?
First it’s Masala Chai. Masala Chai is a black tea with cardamom, black pepper, and ginger. It has a fraction of the caffeine that coffee does.
They say it’s about 35 mg of caffeine in one serving so it’s 1/7 to ⅓ of what a cup of coffee would have, depending on how you make a cup of coffee.
It’s got Cinnamon, which is well known for its blood-sugar-lowering properties
It’s got turmeric, which is showing that it can be great for reducing inflammation.
It’s got cacao, which has tons of flavonoids.
Most of the cacao sold on the shelves has tons of sugars and other stuff added, but high quality, pure cacao is actually really good for you.
And then it’s got a four mushroom blend, some of which are adaptogens like we talked about.
These are
1. Lion’s mane – this one is showing great results for cognitive function, helping the brain function and even help with neurogenesis.
I did a whole video on that where we went into the science around it, there are some very interesting studies about lion’s mane and I think we will be hearing more and more about it as a nootropic aka “smart drug”
2. Cordyceps – these are mushrooms that are being used more and more by athletes.
They help with energy, endurance and athletic performance.
Cordyceps are thought to increase the body’s production of the (ATP), which is essential for delivering energy to the muscles.
And then there is Chaga and Reishi which are 2 mushrooms with a lot of health benefits.
And then they add a bit of Himalayan Salt for minerals and taste.
So, how does this taste?
If we get any of the Starbucks drinks around Christmas time, it’s a little like that.
So when I first started drinking mud water, I was actually really surprised by the flavor.
It did have those Indian type spices that made it kind of exotic.
But that familiar taste of those Starbucks drinks, the, the Christmasy flavors with the cinnamon and the ginger and the cardamom, really had this unique flavor.
And when you add some milk and honey to it, it’s has this warm, like, homey feeling to it.
So I did start drinking that in the afternoons instead of coffee.
And that was also while we were all working from home mostly. And I loved it.
I didn’t have those crashes afterwards. It was just a nice warming cup that helped just, gives you that little extra kick, like right around that two, three o’clock feeling. So I really did enjoy it.
Of course it doesn’t have milk and honey added to it.
So it is an acquired taste.
Masala Chai is traditionally brewed with milk and sugar.
But if that conflicts with your diet, you can just drink it by itself.
It does have a strong taste, but it is good.
So, in the beginning I mentioned that coffee might not be so great for you.
In the book “caffeine blues” the author Stephen Cherniske points out some of his reasons for not liking coffee and caffeine:
- Caffeine raises blood pressure.
- Caffeine increases homocysteine (a biochemical that damages artery walls).
- Caffeine constricts blood vessels leading to the heart.
- Caffeine seems to give you energy but it is not real energy – it’s the bodies stress response
- Caffeine impairs digestion – it’s bad for our gut
- Caffeine taxes the adrenal glands, which in turn negatively affects your thyroid, sex hormones, and your metabolism
- And there is a LOT more.
Now of course, there are a lot of studies showing that moderate coffee consumption is good for us and is associated with lower risk of mortality.
So, who’s right, who’s wrong?
I don’t know, but, if you think caffeine might be giving you anxiety, disrupting your sleep and adding to your stress levels, then taking a break or trying to reduce your intake might be helpful.
Something like mud water for me works well as an afternoon pick me up that doesn’t have too much caffeine, but gives me some energy and focus to get stuff done.
Thank you for reading my MUD\WTR Review.
My name is Natalia Christine, signing off. Bye