Health & Nutrition, Immunity, Matcha, Matcha Powder, Mindfulness, News

If you haven’t already heard about Matcha you will do soon!  It’s the new super tea creating waves in the health and fitness industry:  it has skyrocketed in popularity due to its unique nutrient profile, with consumers drinking shots, lattes, and tea, all made from Premium Grade Matcha with the promise of health benefits, ranging from enhancing weight loss to decreasing the risk of heart disease.  And to top all that, Twist Teas’ Pure Matcha Great Taste Award winning blend tastes delicious too!

 

 

What is it?

 

Matcha green tea powder is a refreshing alternative to traditional tea, a bright green elixir that’s packed with antioxidants that enhances your mood, health and energy level.

 

You’re probably already familiar with green tea.  Matcha comes from the same plant as green tea, but it’s made from the entire leaf, it packs in a more concentrated number of antioxidants and beneficial plant compounds.  Farmers grow matcha by covering their tea plants for between twenty and thirty days before harvest to avoid direct sunlight.  This increases chlorophyll production, boosts the amino acid content, and gives the plant a darker green hue.  Once the tea leaves are harvested, the stems and veins are removed, and the leaves are ground up into a fine powder known as matcha.  Due to its multistage process, it is much pricier than your regular teas, and for good reason!

 

What are its benefits?

 

The increased levels of Chlorophyll in matcha can reduce inflammation within the body, which can be great for aches and pains, and things such as acne and swelling.  Peculiarly, it’s also a natural deodorant, so for people like me who like to get a sweat on, it stops my partner, and mum, keeping their distance from me when I’m back from the gym!

 

Matcha is also generally high in antioxidants, stabilise harmful free radicals.  (For more about this read my blog tea for fitness and health ).  Other benefits of matcha include:

• weight loss as it has the potential to increase fat burn during exercise,
• heart health development as it can reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol allowing easier transport of blood flow, and
• improved brain function due to the high levels of L-theanine present in the leaves.

 

Best of all, the tea is simple to prepare, so you can incorporate it effortlessly into your diet and give your day a burst of extra flavour.  

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Serving Suggestions

• As a tea, you would use one tsp of the Pure Matcha powder, add a slight amount of water to it mixing it in creating a paste. Once the paste is made add the rest of your hot water and there you have it, your green super brew!

 

• Due to the way it boosts brain function, having a quick shot of it before a workout would be an excellent way to boost your concentration! To do so, make a small paste like you would making the tea, then add around 100-200ml of cold water, mix it together and there you have it, a healthy pre workout drink without abundances of caffeine and other unwanted additives!

 

• Another quick way to get that Matcha boost is to simply sprinkle it onto some of your porridge or oats in the morning. That way you’re ready for the day ahead! I like to have our Twist Pure Matcha as it gives it a nice chocolatey taste which definitely satisfies my sweet tooth.