Everyone knows to eat their greens, but there’s another lesser known green out there that is higher in antioxidants than superfoods such as spinach and blueberries…and you can have it in a cup of tea! Matcha is made from a special type of powdered green tea and just one cup of matcha tea has 100 times the antioxidants compared to green tea. Pukka Herbs gives us the lowdown on why is matcha so good for you and what is it good for?
Boost Your Skin’s Natural Beauty
Plants are naturally brimming with compounds that protect us from those nasty ‘free radicals’ that are known for ageing our skin. Green tea and the super-concentrated form of green tea, matcha, are known for fighting back the damage caused by free radicals.
Calm From The Inside Out
When we are stressed we produce more cortisol, which gives us inflamed, irritated and sensitive skin. Matcha is grown in the shade, making it produce L-Theanine which works nicely with the low levels of caffeine in green tea, creating alertness as well as a deep sense of calm (unlike other caffeinated drinks, such as coffee and black tea).
Drink Green, Get Lean
Matcha helps to burn body fat by a process called thermogenesis, so much so that you can burn fat four times faster than your usual metabolism.
Feel-Good Factor
L-Theanine is a protective compound found in matcha and is five times higher in matcha than it is in green tea alone. L-Theanine increases serotonin and dopamine – giving you the feel-good factor and bringing you clarity.
Antioxidant Fix
One cup of organic matcha tea has 100 times the antioxidants compared with green tea and gram for gram 100 times more than spinach. One cup of match tea has the same level of antioxidants as two cups of blueberries (and is a lot cheaper, bonus!).
Top Matcha Tea Tips
Go for organic – if your matcha green tea isn’t organic, it is essentially cancelling out all of the good of matcha, through contamination with pesticides and herbicides…so go organic!
You can never have too much – The best time to drink your matcha tea is before a large meal but evidence has also shown that drinking matcha throughout the day will help to maintain a level of beneficial compounds in the blood stream.
