Matcha Green Tea Powder

 

The impressive health benefits of green tea have been utilized by various oriental cultures for millenia. And although many people don’t realize it, green tea actually comes from the exact same plant (Camellia sinensis) as regular black tea and oolong tea. The difference is in how the leaves are processed. Green tea is the least processed form of tea, and so retains the most benifical qualities of the plant.

 

There is one particular form of green tea, however, that surpasses all others in both it’s nutritional density, and it’s potency of action. It is called “matcha” – a Japanese word – literally meaning “fine powder tea”.

 

Matcha, though, is not simply “powdered green tea” – as some would have you believe. It is an extremely high-grade product made painstakingly from the very finest of raw materials. Only the best quality leaves are harvested from plants specially grown in the shade. After they are harvested, they are then laid out flat to dry. Once dried, the leaves are laboriously deveined and finely milled. Producing a mere 30 grams of matcha green tea powder from this process can take as long as an hour.
 
 
 

 
 
 
This superior product provides green tea’s maximum benefits, as it is made with the whole herb. Furthermore, it contains at least 3 times more antioxidants than run of the mill green tea (and up to 137 times more!!!).

 

Green tea’s biggest health benefit is it’s antioxidants (a word you hear often, but likely don’t understand). An antioxidant (according to Collins dictionary) is a substance, like vitamins C or E, that counters the damaging effects of oxidation in a living organism. One group of these antioxidants, called catechins, work better than both vitamins E and C for stopping and repairing oxidative stress in the body and preventing illness – and this is precisely the antioxidant you will find by the bucketload in green tea.

 

It is very hard to overstate the importance of antioxidants to your health and wellbeing: Along with a healthy and balanced intake of essential fatty acids, antioxidants are one of the key players in the health and proper functioning of your brain – and there are very few things as important as the health of your brain when it comes to the quality of your life and your ability to function and thrive. (For more info about this, we recommend reading “The Brain Diet” by Alan Logan.)
 

 
 
In addition, green tea may also aid in detoxification – chlorophyll, which all plants are rich in, is said to flush toxins like carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals from the body safely and naturally. Matcha green tea is particularly good for this – because it has been carefully nurtured in the shade, it contains far more chlorophyll than normal green tea.

 

Green tea is also great as a gentle pick-me-up. It’s lower levels of caffeine are tempered by a protein called theanine, that has been isolated and studied as a supplement for relaxation and concentration purposes. Tea is also the only known plant to contain any significant amounts of this protein.

 

So, in conclusion: consuming matcha green tea on a regular basis is an amazingly simple and powerful habit – and unlike chomping down a head of brocolli, it’s actually something you’d do even if it wasn’t healthy. It’s both ultra convenient, and enjoyable…addictive even (but not actually). It’s a nutritional no-brainer, that your brain will still thank you for later.