Go For Quality Not Quantity
Matcha of any kind can be enjoyed deliciously in different ways. A little goes a long way not only because it has such a savory flavor but also because its packed with all those nutrients.
Quality matcha is easily detected with a general rule of thumb the greener, the more delicate the flavor, the better. Its also pricier due to more meticulous production methods that preserve its hue and complex flavor.
Higher-grade matcha is generally more vibrantly green as a result of being dried in shade rather than sunlight. More expensive matcha also uses younger leaves formed at the top of the plant, which give it a much more delicate flavor.
Thats why higher-quality matcha is more suited to be enjoyed simply as tea.
More Matcha Tea Health Benefits
Spend five minutes on the internet and youll find a slew of other impressive health claims. Proponents of matcha tea say that it may reduce blood sugar, slow down aging, bump up your immune system to protect against illness, fight cancer and more.
The trials havent been done to support all of these claims yet, but there is one thing that nobody would dispute: Matcha tea is a powerful source of antioxidants that are good for you.
Are Matcha And Green Tea The Same
Matcha is technically a type of green tea. Matcha and green tea both come from a plant native to China, known as Camellia sinensis, which can be traced back almost 5,000 years to ancient China. Although they are both derived from the same plant of the Tencha variety, they are cultivated differently.
Conventionally, green tea is grown out in the sun until it is harvested. However, for growing traditional Japanese-style matcha, tea bushes are covered to stay in the shade for the last several weeks before harvest. The shade helps increase the amount of chlorophyll in the leaves, leading to denser, more vibrant shades of green in the matcha tea leaves and a higher nutrient count than traditional green tea.
Following the harvest, done by hand, the young leaves are stored in a dark place to protect the nutrients. They are deveined and destemmed and ground into a fine, bright green powder.
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Negatives Of Consuming Matcha For Your Kidney Stones
Tip: When it comes to tea, balance is important. A recent case report from the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System documented a patient who drank 16 8-ounce glasses of iced tea per day and had to be put on treatment because his kidneys stopped working. Although it is necessary to drink adequate water, keep in mind that excessive water consumption can be harmful! Your doctor and nutritionist will advise you on how much water you should drink each day.
What Does Good Vs Bad Quality Matcha Taste Like
Good-quality matcha has a slightly sweet taste. It is bright in color and creamy in texture, while the average matcha can be more yellow and grainy. The quality of the leaves makes all the difference. With cheaper matcha, it is likely that tougher, older tea bush leaves are used instead of the more vibrant and younger green leaves.
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How Is Matcha Vs Green Tea Prepared
While traditional green teas are often made from loose leaves or packed into teabags, matcha is made from finely ground, whole leaves. The whole leaves are ground into powder, whisked into hot water, and enjoyed sip by sip, whereas with conventional green tea, leaves are brewed and then taken out of the boiling water after one to three minutes.
PHOTO IMAGE HERE OF A MATCHA LATTE BEING PREPARED/ Caption:To enjoy a matcha latte, simply add steamed milk and your favorite natural sweetener of choice.
Health Benefits Of Matcha Green Tea Powder
Originating in China before making it’s way to Japan in the 12th century, matcha has been used for centuries for its many health properties. Samurai warriors reportedly drank matcha green tea before going into battle because of its energizing properties, while Zen Buddhist monks have used it as a way to remain alert during long periods of meditation. Now that it’s reached the rest of the world, matcha has become increasingly popular for its health benefits. For the skeptics out there, its hard not to raise an eyebrow. However, matcha does come with benefits that various studies have confirmed. These include improved cognitive functioning, better oral health, improved states of relaxation and alertness and possible prevention against high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, heart disease and certain types of cancer.
So, lets have a look at the science behind matcha it’s and its many health benefits.
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Matcha May Improve Heart Health
Stay calm for this: Matcha green tea can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke* and matcha green tea powder may be much more effective than steeped green tea when it comes to heart health . Introducing matcha green tea into your regular diet may significantly lower your risk of having a stroke or heart attack.Of course, matcha isnt all you need for a healthy heart. Experts recommend a healthy and regular eating pattern that includes whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fish, and foods that are low in sugar, fat, sodium and cholesterol. Eating right and exercise are key to a healthy heart!
Matcha Can Reduce The Risk Of Cancer
Like I mentioned above, the powder contains the powerful EGCG, which is used as “chemoprevention” which is able to work against cancer cells as they form. A study published in the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, explained that “EGCG is the most abundant and powerful antioxidant in green tea for cancer chemoprevention ” according to the authors. “Our previous study showed that EGCG enhanced the effects of ginseng compounds in the inhibition of colon cancer cell growth, indicating that green tea could be an effective synergist with anticancer drugs for cancer chemoprevention.” So what do you do with this information? We say, drink at least one cup a day since 1 g of Matcha — enough to steep a cup of tea — contains 61 mg of EGCG, according to Matcha Source.
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Green Tea For Kidney Stones:
- Green tea has been proven effective for kidney stones and green tea extracts help to prevent its formation. If you already have stones in your kidney then also green tea is helpful as it also helps in the removal of stones.
- The green tea extracts bond itself with calcium oxalate thus enabling crystals to take different shapes and also prevents them from pilling up together in the kidney to form stones.
- According to research, green tea extracts make calcium oxalate flatter thus forming flat stones, which are not strong and breakdown easily.
Where To Buy Matcha Green Tea
Looking for an amazing everyday matcha green tea powder?
Look no further than Tenzo Tea. We might be a bit biased, but we also flew across the world to organically source the best matcha on the planet from local farmers in Kagoshima, Japan. Tenzo Tea is ceremonial in quality, emerald green in color and delicate and smooth in taste.
*The statements on this page have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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Best Budget: Purechimp Matcha Green Tea Powder
Due to a brief harvest season and select growing regions , matcha powder can get pricey, especially compared to coffee and tea. But U.K.-based company PureChimp keeps its prices low, which is why it’s our best budget pick.
The product has solid online reviews, with many customers calling the flavor smooth, though slightly grassy, while others say that it’s an unbeatable value-for-money option. Keep a decent amount of skepticism, of course. The powder is duller than many pricier matchasâa sign of lower qualityâand the company does not indicate how the tencha leaves are ground, meaning a cheaper and cruder alternative to stone grinding might be used.
On the plus side, all of PureChimp’s products are sourced in the Kyoto region of Japan, and the company even sells flavored matcha powders, including mint, turmeric, rooibos, and lemongrass. As an added bonus, 5 percent of profits are donated to Save The Chimps.
Grade: Ceremonial | Origin: Kagoshima, Japan | Harvest: First harvest | Size: 20, 50, 100, and 500 grams
Culinary grade matcha can be enjoyed in traditional tea form, but it’s best for mixing into recipes: smoothies, baked goods, saltâyou name it. Since the tencha leaves are harvested later in season and ground with more heat, the resulting powder has a darker color and more bitter taste. This helps it “stand up to the strong flavors in milk, butter, and sugar,” explains Puyane.
Antioxidants In Green Tea Boost The Immune System
Drinking green tea might fend of the sniffles this winter. In a randomized controlled trial, 32% fewer participants taking green tea extract developed cold or flu symptoms compared to a placebo control group . The exact mechanisms behind this effect are unknown, but they could be related to the vitamin C content in green tea.
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Matcha Green Tea Why Is It Healthy
In the West, not so long ago, matcha was branded a superfood. Attached were all sorts of wondrous health claims: anti-aging effects, 20 times the concentration of antioxidants as regular green tea, fat-shedding catechin polyphenols.
A few years back, I even went through a phase of adding matcha powder to my regular green tea. This was my insurance that would live past age 93, like the kimono-wrapped Japanese women I saw hosting the tea ceremonies I attended.
When you drink green tea that is steeped, the tea leaves are soaked in hot water. This means not all the nutrients in the leaves actually end up in your cup of tea. The green tea that you drink, steeped from a teabag, is something like 99.9% water.
Really, what youre drinking is green tea-infused water. The rest of your loose-leaf tea, or tea bag, gets tossed in the garbage.
Matcha is made from the exact same green tea plant, Camellia sinensis, but the leaves are ground up into a fine powder. When you drink matcha, youre actually consuming whole tea leaves in powdered form, mixed with water.
Makes sense, right, why matcha has a much higher concentration of antioxidants?
But like a said earlier, this post is not about the nutrients inside matcha.
The secret to matchas power to heal has nothing to do with whats in the tea.
Lead Contamination Is A Concern
Even organically grown green teas have been shown to contain lead, which is absorbed by the plant from the environment, particularly tea grown in China. When traditional green tea is steeped, about 90% of the lead stays in the leaf, which is discarded. With matcha, since the whole leaf is consumed, you will ingest more lead. One independent group, ConsumerLab.com, which tested teas, estimates that a cup of matcha may contain as much as 30 times more lead than a cup of green tea. Therefore, they recommend drinking no more than one cup daily, and not serving it to children.
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How Much Black Tea Is Safe
Of course, having a cup of black tea every so often is perfectly safe for most people. Even though black tea contains higher oxalate levels than most teas, its generally not enough to worry about.
One study looked at the amount of oxalates in black tea and found quite low levels. They concluded that drinking 4 cups of black tea would not pose a risk to kidney stones, and for kidney stone patients they recommended not to consume anything with more than 10 mg of oxalate, which is just over two 8oz mugs according to this study .
Whether you can consume black tea with a kidney condition depends on how severe your condition is, how much youre consuming, and your doctors instructions. While most people can drink reasonable amounts of black tea with no problem, be sure to check with your healthcare professional first if you have issues with kidney health.
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Losing It With Matcha
If youve done any research on weight loss at all, youve probably come across matcha or, at the very least, green tea. That same research might very well likely be what lead you here. And, if youve never heard it, well now you have.
But, what you might not have come across while researching healthy weight loss is WHY matcha is good for weight loss. Why is matcha better than green tea? Does matcha speed up your metabolism? Does it cut cravings? Does it give you more energy? How exactly does matcha help you lose weight?
This dingy old cloud of unknowing will hang over you no longer, cause were going to open up the skies and shine a little light on the subject. So, if you really wanna know why matcha is so beneficial for weight loss, keep on reading.
On the other hand, if youre happy just knowing the what, rather than the why, you can always pop on over here, order some matcha right now, and get your weight loss journey started.
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Why Not Drink Green Tea For Weight Loss Instead
First things first, were not throwing green tea under the bus. Its a healthy beverage thats delicious and possesses a lot of the same health benefits as matcha. But the same doesnt always mean equal. Its true that matcha and green tea come from the same plant. It is also true that green tea and matcha are good for weight loss. However, matcha and green tea dont contain equal amounts of the nutrients, amino acids, and antioxidants that give them these special properties. Matcha is significantly more potent, which also means that matcha is better for weight loss.
From the very beginning of the growing process, the plants destined to be matcha are treated much differently than those designated for green tea. Matcha is protected from the sun, in order to preserve its bright green color and all of its nutrients. When ready, the entire leaves are ground into a fine powder, which you then mix up at home. This gives matcha another edge over green tea. Not only are the nutrients in green less potent because theyve been exposed to the elements for longer, but green tea is also only steeped. When you drink matcha, youre consuming the entire leaf, albeit in a powdered form. With green tea, you dip a bag into a cup of warm water and remove it minutes later, simultaneously removing the majority of its nutrients and minerals.
So, the tea thats most beneficial for weight loss is, in fact, matcha.
It May Help Boost Metabolism
but not by much and not for very long! A few small studies have linked drinking about four cups of caffeinated green tea a day with a higher metabolic rate. Research suggests that both the caffeine and antioxidant compounds called catechins may give you a slight boost. That said, you may not see much of a benefit unless you’re guzzling only matcha all day, every day. Plus, genetics play a pretty big role in how effective matcha “works” on your metabolic rate. The only tried-and-true way drinking green tea will boost your metabolism? By helping you wake up and get to the gym.
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Matcha Tea Is Everywherebut Is It Actually Good For You
Thinking about jumping on the matcha bandwagon? Here’s how it stacks up next to traditional green tea
Unless youve taken a break from the Internet for the last year, youre probably familiar with matcha. The bright green tea . The trend started in the form of lattesbut people aren’t just sipping the stuff anymore. Theyre adding matcha to their smoothies and desserts, too.
Matcha is a type of green tea, and the benefits of traditional green tea are already well-documented on their own. So it follows that matchas health halo spans from weight loss to cancer prevention. That sounds great, but is it legit?
First, a little background on what matcha actually is. Matcha comes from the same plant that all green, black, and oolong teas come fromCamellia sinensis. But it’s a little different from the basic brew you know and love to sip.
When you order traditional green tea, youre steeping the tea leaves in hot water until the leaves are totally infused and then you discard them, explains Cynthia Sass, M.P.H., R.D., an NYC-based sports nutritionist. With matcha, youre drinking the actual leaves, which have been finely powdered and made into a solution, traditionally by mixing about a teaspoon of matcha powder with a third cup of hot water. Because youre ingesting the entire leaf of the tea plant, youll get a more potent mix of nutrients and antioxidants than with traditionally prepared green tea.
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