You may have heard the words ‘matcha green tea’ being bounced around within the health and fitness circles, but as with a lot of superfoods and supergreens now, the knowledge is finally becoming more widespread. Matcha green tea is essentially a very concentrated form of green tea and with the likes of tea connoisseurs, Teapigs, doing their thing, Matcha is now an extremely accessible ‘super tea’. Here’s why you should think about incorporating it into your daily routine…
1. It’s a BIG TIME antioxidant blast:
- Matcha green tea contains 137 times the antioxidants of regular green tea.
2. Gets you going and calms you down:
- Matcha contains thophylline and L-theanine, which when working together with the caffeine it gives you a sustained energy boost which can last for up to 6 hours.
- L-theanine helps create a state of mental alertness, but keeping you relaxed at the same time.
- L-theanine has also been said to help improve learning performance, promote concentration and support the immune system.
3. Aids weight loss:
- A study found that drinking green tea can increase thermogenesis, which in turn can help you burn more calories.
- Another study in 2008 also found that green tea ingestion ‘can increase fat oxidation during moderate intensity exercise’. So, if you are planning a little workout, why not try taking a shot of matcha half an hour before.
4. Skin, glorious skin:
- Green tea contains polyphenols (I had to google this and still don’t really understand exactly what it is!), which can be used as an effective agent for prevention of sun induced skin problems. This doesn’t mean you can swap the factor 30 for a cup of green tea, but it might help keep your skin looking younger for longer!
Teapigs kindly sent me a Match Green Tea Kit to try out, including a snazzy little electric handwhisk and a shot sized Teapigs glass. For the first week of my new found Matcha life I was having the Matcha with hot water and knocking it back, but I’ve now decided that I like my powder added to my morning green smoothie. The other reason for this decision is because I can’t quite get the hang of the handwhisk and keep spilling green tea all over the kitchen and floor! Putting it in my smoothie works perfectly for me, as it means I won’t forget to have it everyday.
If you’re new to green tea in general, then the Matcha taste will definitely take a bit of getting used to, but if you’re able to down the shot-sized portion in one, then it’s over and done with before you can even think about the taste… kind of. Maybe have a glass of water on standby in case you need to wash it down!
This little green powder of goodness is definitely a keeper in my daily routine. Head over to the Teapigs website and order yours now – Teapigs have given Imperfect Matter readers a cheeky little promotion code to use too:
Promo code: ‘cat‘ for a 10% discount*. Shop here.
Be green. Be happy. Be healthy. x
* Promo code excludes cheeky deals, bulk buys, pick & mix and matcha kits. Code expires at the end of June 2014.