I believe in sharing with my followers every possible thing that can improve their health. This includes beverages other than my Organic Green Drink delivery plan.
And hands down one of the healthiest drinks you should consume often besides Green Drink and water is matcha tea.
Since I’m not a coffee drinker, I really enjoy drinking matcha green tea. Matcha does contain caffeine but roughly about a third of the amount as a regular cup of coffee. I have never felt jittery after drinking it.
Are you somebody who has heard the term “matcha” but have no idea exactly what it is? Then this article is for you.
What Is Matcha Tea?
Matcha tea is a shade-grown, whole-leaf tea powder. It’s made by taking tea leaves (from the camellia sinensis plant) and grinding the leaves into a fine powder.
The highest-quality matcha tea, which is most often grown in Japan (the rarer white matcha tea powder is grown in Kenya), is made from leaves that have been shaded for up either two or three weeks before the first harvest of the season (which is usually in the winter).
Then, the leaves are steamed, the veins and stems are removed and ultimately dried before being ground into a fine powder. So instead of drinking tea from a bag or loose leafs, matcha always comes in powder form.
Nearly 5,000 years ago, China became the birthplace of tea. Buddhist monks introduced matcha to Japan approximately in the 1300s. Matcha tea mostly fizzled out in China but in Japan, the oldest type of tea in this tea-obsessed island nation, has remained popular. And over the last few years, matcha tea powder has become a huge health trend in the west.
Is Matcha Tea Powder Better Than Regular Tea?
The fact that matcha is cultivated in the shade is very important. That’s because when the tea leaves mature in the shade, the levels of the green pigment, chlorophyll, increases. I recently covered the topic of liquid chlorophyll drops and how it’s a huge trend on TikTok.
To sum up: consuming chlorophyll-rich foods and drinks can increase the amount of red blood cells in your body. This in turn, increases your oxygen capacity which gives you more endurance and energy. Also, the young TikTokers swear by chlorophyll for skin health.
Does that mean drinking green matcha tea will make your skin look beautiful? Stay tuned for the benefits of matcha tea below…
Another difference between regular green tea and matcha is that the latter is much more concentrated. This means that by drinking green tea in powder form, you’re getting a larger dose of the beneficial phytonutrients.
Any type of herbal tea offers health benefits. But it seems that matcha is the gold-standard.
Benefits of Matcha Green Tea
Matcha powder contains a wide variety of antioxidants and other nutrients. It’s also a great source of vitamin K, which is one of the best nutrients for your blood vessels and lungs.
A study published in Nutrients supports drinking matcha tea powder for enhancing brain function. The phytonutrients in matcha “confer benefits upon cognitive functions of elderly people,” said the researchers, who led a 12-week trial involving 61 participants. Each of the matcha participants drank three grams of powder.
There’s solid evidence that supports matcha for cardiovascular protection, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, inflammation, cholesterol levels, anti-aging and pretty much every other health benefit.
There’s a couple phytonutrients in matcha that a study in Food Research International says gives it the most benefits: l-theanine and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).
L-theanine is a mood-boosting amino acid. It also helps you feel more calm because it activates the neurotransmitter called GABA.
As for EGCG, there’s solid evidence that it can kill tumors.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that just like everything else in life, quality matters. In Japan, matcha tea is used ceremoniously. Ceremonial-grade matcha is the highest quality. The green color is vivid, resembling a patch of Irish moss. Lower-quality matcha powder, but healthy nonetheless, is used for baking.
Go green with Organic Green Drink and green matcha tea for health!
