By Alyssa Boddicker
What Is It?
Matcha is a stone-ground powdered green tea that has become a total buzz world in all things healthy. Originally used for traditional Japanese tea ceremonies, this benefit packed mega drink has taken over the coffee shops, so why should we drink it?
Catechins: What are they and why do they matter?
Catechins are organic compounds loved because they are one of the most potent and beneficial of the antioxidants. There is a specific catechin that we don’t expect you to learn the name of but do expect you to lov,e called epigallocatechin gallate, also known as EGCg. EGCg, known for its cancer fighting properties makes up 60% of the catechins within matcha green tea. It was also found that matcha green tea has more than 100 times more EGCg than any other tea out there. Are you sold yet?
Why Not Just Drink Green Tea?
Not only does matcha have a fresher and nicer taste than green tea, but just one cup of matcha has as many antioxidants as 10 cups of classic green tea. It is more expensive than green tea bags but last much longer than the single tea bags and think of all those numerous added benefits!
Can I Have Matcha Latte or Brownie Instead?
Unfortunately no. Although you will still get some of the benefits of matcha, nothing quite compares to just a regular matcha tea. because sadly they don’t contain the same key nutrients. If you are drinking matcha for the health benefits then I’d recommend sticking to the hot tea but if you’re looking for the delicious savuory flavor of matcha, then sip matcha lattes and eat up matcha brownies freely, the still taste great.
Matcha Is Antioxidant Rich
Antioxidants are nutrients and enzymes that fight against all those bad things like UV radiation, cancer and Alzheimer’s. Matcha is specifically amazing on the antioxidant front because just one cup provides more than 5 times the antioxidants of any other food available. To give you a mental image, one cup of matcha has around 17 times the amount of antioxidants as a serving of blueberries thanks to those magical things called catechins.
Matcha Is Calming
Before it was a health craze, matcha green tea was used in Asian countries to relax and mediate while also staying alert. What’s been discovered since then is that the reason for this relaxing while alert state was an amino acid called L-Theanine, which are in the leaves used to make matcha green tea. L-Theanine is important because it promotes brain waves called alpha waves which induces relaxation without going into a sleepy state from other “downer” ingredients. The result is a relaxed state that won’t have you falling asleep at work.
Matcha Increases Energy Levels and Endurance
Want a healthier alternative to those Skinny Cafe Lattes? Matcha naturally contains caffeine, but the contrast between matcha and its other green tea comrades is the combination with other nutrients in the tea like L-Theanine allow for increased energy and endurance of up to 6 hours. Another perk is that because of that trendy amino acid L-Theanine, matcha drinkers don’t experience the usual stimulant side-effects like nervousness and hypertension.
Matcha Burns Calories
Nearly calorie-free to begin with, matcha boosts metabolism and burns fat at what some have reported as four times faster than usual. Another perk of matcha is that unlike other “diet” trends, matcha causes no negative side-effects or added stresses on the body like increased heart rate and blood pressure that other energy drinks, and diet trends do.
Matcha Detoxes The Body
Before matcha tea leaves are harvested to be made into the green powder you buy, the leaves are covered up and deprived of sunlight which causes a huge increase in chlorophyll production. This increase in chlorophyll once ground up into powder has powerful detoxifying capabilities of removing heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body. This increase in chlorophyll is also the reason for matcha’s bright green colour.
Now we think you should give it a go.
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We’ve recently had some Matcha from http://www.eatcleantea.com/ and it was lovely, you can see all the health benefits on their site too.
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