Matcha The Superhero Amongst Tea!

what is matcha green tea?

Matcha is 100% natural, organic green tea leaves which have been carefully ground down to form a fine powder.

It has been drunk in Japan as part of the tea ceremony for almost 900 years, and is used by Buddhist monks to keep them alert, awake and focused during long days of meditation.

We like to think of matcha as a sort of superhero amongst teas, as it’s super-concentrated and packed full of the goodness we need to help keep us looking and feeling happy and healthy.

The tea leaves are grown under cover for the last two weeks of cultivation to produce lots of chlorophyll (the bright green good stuff).

They are then dried and slowly ground between two granite rocks to a very fine powder. This is then packed immediately in a vacuum sealed tin, to lock in all the nutrients.

matcha and health

Matcha is essentially a very concentrated form of green tea. The way it’s grown and consumed means that it’s packed full of essential vitamins and minerals. Matcha tea bushes are grown under shade which dramatically increases the chlorophyll and amino acid content of the leaf – lots of good stuff.

When you drink regular green tea, you throw away the leaves afterwards which a bit like boiling spinach, throwing away the spinach and just drinking the water – you’ll get some of the nutrients, but you’re throwing away the best bit. Matcha is drunk as a fine powder diffused in liquid so you actually ingest the whole leaf, consuming every little bit of lovely green tea good stuff. That’s why we call it super power green 

All green tea but matcha even more so contains a very special naturally occurring amino acid called L-Theanine . Along with caffeine, a well known stimulant also found in green tea the combination appears to increase alertness and improve concentration.

That’s probably why Buddhist monks have used matcha for centuries when meditating for hours. Closely followed by Japanese students cramming for exams.

Like all green tea our little superhero contains flavonoids which in studies have been shown to have an antioxidant effect. To be even more precise the real gem in matcha is known as epigallocatechin gallate or EPCG to its friends.

It is thought that regular consumption of foods and drinks containing flavonoids might help to protect our bodies from harmful free radicals so there is ongoing research across the world looking into the potential positive health benefits of flavonoids such as EGCG.

We would like to Thank TEA PIGS for suppling our fitness club with this wonderfully nutritious drink and for the information about what it is and why it’s so good for us.