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 content of the leaf – this is the bright green stuff (pictured right) which is really good for us, and which is particularly rich in antioxidants.

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 last bit of goodness.

Antioxidant blast

Our little superhero contains 137 times the antioxidants of regular green tea – wow!  Antioxidant capacity can be measured by the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbancy Capacity) and this shows us the ability of certain foods to protect us from nasty free radicals, which cause ageing and general damage to our cells.  Matcha scores very highly on the ORAC table, towering above many of our well-known super-foods such as spinach, blueberries and goji berries!

Energising and calming

Matcha contains two special amino acids called theophylline and L-theanine. Like all green tea, matcha naturally contains caffeine but, unlike coffee, it works together with these two important amino acids to give you a sustained energy boost which can last 6 hours. By stimulating the production of alpha brain waves, L-theanine helps to create a state of mental alertness but keeping you relaxed at the same time¹ – no wonder Buddhist monks have been drinking matcha for centuries. Plus a Japanese study in 1999²also found that L-theanine can help:

• improve learning performance,
• promote concentration and
• support the immune system.

The L-theanine content in tea also increases with the grade of tea, with high-grade matcha (that’s our stuff) having the greatest percentage of this marvellous amino acid¹.

Weight loss

As we all know there are two ways to lose weight, eat less or increase your energy expenditure (i.e. do more exercise and burn more calories). Given the amount of cookies and cakes we eat in the teapigs office, we find the first option a little hard but luckily we’re armed with matcha to help with the second one. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1999) found that green tea can increase thermogenesis by 35-43% and thermogenesis is one way of raising your daily energy expenditure³. So … drinking green tea can increase thermogenesis, which in turn can increase your daily energy expenditure (i.e. burning more calories) – without even getting off the sofa! Amazing! Also, a study in 2008 found that green tea ingestion ‘can increase fat oxidation during moderate intensity exercise⁴‘ So, if you are planning a little workout, why not try taking a shot of matcha half an hour before.

Healthy skin

Green tea naturally contains polyphenols, this may not mean much to you and us, but the clever people at the University of Alabama have found that consumption of green tea polyphenols can inhibit UV radiation-induced skin damage⁵. It is well known that UV rays from the sun can damage and age skin and even cause skin cancer. Their study found that green tea polyphenols can be used as an effective agent for the prevention of sun induced skin disorders, helping to keep your skin looking young and beautiful. Sounds good to us!

Credit : http://www.teapigs.co.uk