Matcha is an authentic green tea, but it’s grown, harvested and produced differently. I’m not going to go too much into technical details here, but what is important to remember I reckon is that the leaves are turned into a very fine powder known as matcha. (You can read a lot more on How Matcha is produced here.)
What are the health benefits of Matcha?
You might already know that drinking green tea has many health benefits. In general, when you drink a cup of green tea, you remove the tea bag after a few minutes. So imagine the benefits of this Matcha powder, which is a concentrate* of it, you actually ingest the leaves.
The benefits are the following:
It’s packed with antioxidants
It provides vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium
It boosts metabolism and burns calories (it helps with weigh loss)
It detoxifies effectively and naturally
It calms the mind and relaxes the body
It’s rich in fibre, chlorophyll and vitamins
It enhances mood and aids in concentration
It prevents disease
It lowers cholesterol and blood sugar
How to use it?
I’ll be honest with you, I’ve started using it a few weeks ago only. I have added it in chia seed puddings, in some smoothies, and in a glass of chilled rice milk. The latest was the Matcha breakfast bowl.
I generally count one teaspoon / one teaspoon and a half per person; it depends on your taste buds actually. You’ll see, maybe don’t add too much the first time you use it.
Where can you find it?
It’s not difficult to find actually! I’ve seen it in the “organic alley” of a few supermarkets, and of course in any organic store worthy of the name. You can also buy it online.
*I’m not quite sure I can say that to be honest, you might have picked up that I’m not a Native English speaker! You get the idea though.