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While I love a cup of Relax + Renew lavender tea to get me to sleep, or a steaming brew of Lemon Delicious to calm my digestive issues, there is one type of tea that I prefer every morning as part of my daily ritual - Healthy Chef ceremonial grade matcha tea.
WHY CEREMONIAL GRADE MATCHA TEA?
This is because matcha tea packs more antioxidants, body shaping and anti-ageing properties than any other tea I like to sip on.
Matcha is high in antioxidants, increases energy levels, enhances mood, boosts your immune system, stimulates your metabolism, detoxifies the body, boosts concentration and improves skin health.
Matcha also works as a fat blocker, which is perfect if you're on a weight loss or body shaping plan. In a 2005 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, participants who drank catechin-rich green tea extract daily dropped almost twice as much weight in 12 weeks as participants who didn’t.
Matcha green tea is essentially a more potent and concentrated form of green tea as it provides all the nutrients from the entire leaf rather than loose leaf green tea.
Matcha does not put any stress on the body. It doesn’t raise blood pressure or heart rate like coffee making it a great alternative.
WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT IT?
Recognised as a superfood, matcha contains extremely high levels of antioxidants as well as various compounds associated with improving health and gently supporting weight loss. One serve of matcha is more potent than a regular cup of steeped green tea.
More specifically, matcha is an excellent source of EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate), with levels significantly higher than regular green tea. EGCG is a molecule with naturally has metabolism boosting and thermogenic affects in the body, meaning it gently supports weight loss.
According to Journal of the American College of Nutrition, green tea has a higher total antioxidant capacity than black tea and higher antioxidant activity than vegetables such as garlic, kale, spinach and brussels sprouts.
I love drinking this tea in the morning instead of a regular cup of coffee. I also enjoy it cold and love to add it to my protein shakes and green smoothies.
HOW DO YOU DRINK MATCHA?
I love a hot cup of Matcha green tea to start my day - it invigorates and makes me feel energised.
DRINK HOT: Just take 1/2 teaspoon of matcha powder and add hot water. Whisk well and enjoy the goodness. You can also use hot almond or coconut milk for a delicious and creamy matcha latte.
DRINK COLD: Add 1/2 teaspoon Healthy Chef Matcha into your favourite smoothie or protein shake or combine with coconut water and pour over ice with a squeeze of lime.
This makes a delicious energising and refreshing cooler or pre workout formula to help with endurance and energy. There are also endless ways to use Matcha in smoothies, raw desserts and as flavouring for icing and cakes. Think raw key lime pie made with cashew nuts, lime juice and matcha then topped with pomegranate jewels. I also love making my matcha bliss balls packed with protein from coconut, cashew, matcha, Healthy Chef Protein and a little lemon.