There's so matcha to love about matcha. A long-standing tradition of Japanese culture, matcha green tea is the highest quality powdered tea available that is now taking the health world by storm.
Made from the nutrient-rich young leaves of camellia sinensis plants, you may have seen matcha appearing in health shots, smoothies, lattes, teas and even desserts in shops and restaurants near you.
So why exactly is matcha such a buzz superfood at the moment? To help explain the frenzy and why we’ve chosen to include matcha green tea in some of our products (The Detox Booster and The Tone Capsules), we’ve given you six reasons why we love matcha green tea.
It's high in antioxidants
Matcha is rich in catechins. These are a class of plant compounds found in tea that act as natural antioxidants. Antioxidants are the magical nutrients and enzymes responsible for fighting against the negative effects of UV radiation, giving us younger looking skin and helping to stabilise harmful free radicals, which are compounds that can damage our cells and cause chronic diseases like cancer. Matcha’s antioxidant levels are 60.5 times that of spinach and seven times that of dark chocolate - a perfect fit for our revitalising The Detox Booster!
It increases energy levels and endurance
While green tea naturally contains caffeine, the energy boost received from matcha is largely due to its unique combination of other nutrients and amino acids. The increased endurance from a cup of matcha green tea can last up to six hours. Even better, as it contains the unique amino acid l-theanine, matcha drinkers don’t experience any of the usual jittery caffeine side effects that they get from other drinks like coffee.
It aids natural weight loss
Matcha green tea helps in speeding up your metabolism and assisting you in losing weight faster. A study featured in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition proved that Green Tea Powder increased thermogenesis (the body’s rate of burning calories) from 8-10% to 35-43% of daily expenditure. These amazing metabolism-boosting benefits are just another reason why we just had to include matcha green tea in The Tone Capsules.
It naturally detoxes the body
During the last three weeks before green tea leaves are harvested to be made into matcha powder, the camellia sinensis leaves are covered to deprive them of sunlight. This process causes a tremendous increase in chlorophyll production, resulting in matcha green tea having high levels of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a nutrient which helps safely cleanse and eliminate harmful toxins and chemicals from our bodies thus, making matcha green tea a powerful natural detoxifier.
It boosts memory and concentration
Another amazing effect of the amino acid l-theanine found in matcha green tea is its ability to increase the production of dopamine and serotonin. An increase in these two chemicals can enhance your mood, increase focus, improve memory and promote better concentration - making green matcha tea an amazing brain booster.
It tastes great
Unlike many other health teas that require countless teaspoons of sugar to make them drinkable, matcha is wonderful on its own. Its crisp, vegetative notes compliment perfectly with the savoury taste of the l-theanine amino acid, making its taste truly unique in every way. Drunk on its own or included in health products like our The Detox Booster and The Tone Capsules, matcha green tea is a delicious superfood that you can't afford to be missing out on.