What is it?

Matcha Green Tea is an ancient Japanese green tea powder. It is a product steeped in ancient tradition, used thousands of years ago by Zen Buddhist monks in Japanese tea ceremonies, an important part of Japanese culture.

Resurfacing recently onto the health food scene because of its potent antioxidant levels, green matcha tea has various health and energy benefits that have previously been overlooked.​

How to consume

Matcha green tea powder is prepared through whisking the powder through the hot water until light and frothy.  A typical serve would be roughly 5g of Matcha Green Tea added to boiling water (let the water sit for up to 5 minutes before whisking in the tea powder, this allows for a smoother blend and cleaner taste).

Unlike regular tea, whereby we consume the brewed tea water, the whole tea leaf is dissolved and consumed in matcha tea, and rather than being classified as a ‘brew’ it's a ‘suspension’. The matcha tea is whisked and becomes suspended in the water.

There is no limit to how matcha can be used within the kitchen; infused into warm or cold beverages, in sweet or savoury dishes alike. The naturally sweet yet grassy tones of the powder mix well with a variety of flavours.

Benefits of drinking

It has been proven that drinking a cup of matcha green tea has 137 times the amount of antioxidants, in comparison to regular green tea. It also has a whopping amount compared to various other superfoods on the market:

To summarise matcha green tea:

•    Boosts your metabolism and burns calories
•    Detoxifies the body effectively and naturally
•    Calms the mind, enhances mood and concentration
•    Is rich in fibre, chlorophyll and essential vitamins such as Vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium
•    Prevents disease
•    Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar

(Source: MatchaSource.com 2015)

How can matcha green tea be advantageous to your training?

1.    Metabolism

Green tea is known for its ability to promote natural weight loss with regular use through boosting your metabolism. A study conducted by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition proved that the consumption of green tea increased the body’s natural ability to burn calories by almost 400%.

2.    Natural Fat Burner

It has been found that a significant antioxidant within green tea assists within the inhibition of an enzyme that in turn signals for the body to break down fat cells.  The National Institute of Health proved that green tea was shown to increase fat oxidation by 17% on average; the tea actually selectively increases fat burning, using it as an energy source for the body.

3.    Endurance

Green Tea has been proven to increase endurance with various exercises. Linked with the previous two points (an increase of metabolic rate and body’s use of fat as an energy source), studies on mice showed that running time to exhaustion was increased by a massive 30% in those that were supplied with a green tea extract.

 

Matcha Green Tea is proven to be powerful in improving concentration, metabolic function and blood sugar levels. Although the taste is very acquired on its own, you can be very creative with how you use it to boost other recipes.

Do note that as Matcha Green Tea is in an extremely concentrated form, its caffeine levels are 3 times that of normal caffeine, so ensure you’re not drinking it in the late afternoons, or a few hours before you’re ready to wind down and sleep.

See more information about our Matcha Green Tea product here.