I’ve been seeing matcha everyone! From my local grocery store, to Costco, to Starbucks and all over the internet. It is touted for it’s incredible health benefits. Increased energy and weight loss – what could be better?
Matcha is simply a powder made from a specific type of green tea. This particular type of green tea happens to have high chlorophyll levels (which explains how matcha looks so green!) In order to brew matcha, you simply add the powder to hot water, which means you are consuming the entire leaf (unlike typical teas, where you remove the leaf after brewing).
The specific compound that appears to have incredible health benefits is EGCG – which is actually found in all teas. But when you combine EGCG with the catechins and antioxidants found in green tea, you can reap the following benefits:
- Reverse diabetes
- Increase heart health
- Increase brain health
- Decrease cancer growth
- Decrease the aging process
- Improve skin health
- Boost metabolism!
Sign me up! But do we really need to reach for matcha instead of a regular green tea leaf? Well, matcha has been shown to have as much as 3 times as much EGCG as regular tea. So perhaps it is worth the price!
Just one quick precaution before you start investing in matcha: teas produced in China have been shown to have higher levels of lead pollution than other countries. So, to play it safe, try to get your green tea and matcha from Japan.
So try switching your morning coffee for matcha and see if you can feel the subtle changes in your own health!
