If you are concerned with remaining ageless, losing weight, or just boosting your intake of antioxidants, green matcha tea needs to be on your radar. I’m all about agelessness and skipping botox for life, so these days you will find me in my office alternating between sipping green matcha and getting my daily water intake in. Although green matcha tea comes from Camellia sinesis the same plant that green tea is derived from they do have some key differences. Green matcha is essentially stone ground tea leaves, and is grown by keeping the plant covered for 20-30 days which increases chlorophyll production, boosts amino acid content, and makes for a darker green hue.
To give you a clearer picture about how potent green tea matcha is, to get the effects and similar nutrient content of one cup, you’d have to consume 10 cups of green tea. Green matcha is extremely high in antioxidants, which are act as our bodies’ defense agents, lower our risk for chronic disease, and work to stabilize free radicals and slow the aging process. Green tea matcha actually contains more antioxidants than goji berries, pomegranate, blueberries, acai, broccoli, and spinach, all of which are antioxidant powerhouses. When it comes to weight loss green tea matcha has been shown in studies to increase the oxidation of fat, especially in women. Another small study that was conducted on men, showed that taking green tea extract during moderate exercise was able to increase fat burning by 17%.
Other researched benefits of green tea matcha include improved mood and mental performance due to some of the main constituents in the tea including: phytochemicals, small amounts of caffeine, L-theanine, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). L-theanine promotes alertness and helps to keep energy levels stable after consuming caffeine, and has also been shown to boost alpha wave activity in the brain which can provide you with an awesome dose of relaxation and decrease your stress levels. Catechins are beneficial compounds found in green tea, and have been estimated to be 137 times greater in green tea matcha. ECGC is a type of catechin that has anti-cancer properties and is abundant in matcha.
After learning about all of the amazing ways matcha can enhance your health, you are most likely wanting to know how to best prepare it so you can reap the wonderful benefits. The good news is, preparing matcha is simple. You can buy matcha powder in bulk or in prepackaged smaller packets already portioned out, and mix 2-4 grams of matcha powder or 1-2 teaspoons into 8-10 oz of hot water. For thinner tea use more water. To spice things up you can also get creative and add milk or non-dairy milk and make green matcha lattes. -XO Raw Girl
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