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Matcha Tea and Me
Being and staying healthy is an ever-evolving journey. As I change and grow older, I have found new things that have profoundly impacted my life. In comparison, these don't always mean cultured foods, but sometimes they are prebiotics that my body needs.
I am a coffee lover, but it didn't love me lately. I started to feel more acidic, and the caffeine started bothering me. So I started looking around for drinks to replace it and switched to Matcha tea (ceremonial grade). I was amazed at how great it made me feel and how much I enjoyed it. I drink it once or twice a day, and it's a lot easier than making coffee. I have it with homemade almond milk that I make twice a week (which is so easy to make) but you can have it however you like with the milk of your choice, or you can drink it alone without milk.
Matcha tea feeds my microbiome and changes me from the inside out. When I first started drinking it, I noticed a shift in my microbiome. Foods with prebiotic fibers feed bacteria; and when they do, the good bacteria start to grow and multiply, and what a difference it has made. I only share with you things I make and consume and only things I feel can help you, too. Most people don't understand how their bodies actually work and what they need to give them for a robust, healthy life. Matcha tea has a lot of benefits. I didn't even name them all, but these are a few that I have experienced.
Matcha Green Tea
Matcha is a type of green tea made from whole, powdered tea leaves. There are different grades of Matcha tea, and I recommend the ceremonial grade so you will get all the benefits.
Prebiotic
Matcha is a powerful prebiotic. Fiber in foods feed our microbes. Matcha is an excellent source of dietary fiber; it has galactooligosaccharides (GOS) which are prebiotic fibers that can help enhance gut barrier function and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria. The microorganisms in the gut play an important role in the development of inflammation which often upsets the metabolism of glucose and the absorption of fat. [1]
There are no jitters in Matcha
Matcha contains all of the nutrients from the entire tea leaf and contains more caffeine and antioxidants than are typically present in green tea. It has a different kind of caffeine that doesn't make you jittery, which I can attest to. I often have it before bed and have never had problems sleeping.
Weight loss and brain health
Studies of matcha and its components have unearthed a variety of benefits, showing that it can help protect brain and cognitive health[2] and even aid in weight loss. After having matcha twice a day for two months, I started noticing all my clothes were getting bigger. I hadn't changed anything else, and then I researched and found that matcha green tea powder, with its high amounts of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), drives the metabolism-boosting and thermogenic effects in the body. [3,4] Multiple published studies have shown that EGCG has beneficial effects against obesity and could significantly reduce the gain of body weight and/or adipose tissue.[5,6,7] A study featured in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that consuming matcha green tea can increase thermogenesis (the body’s own rate of burning calories) from a normal 8%-10% of daily energy expenditure to between 35% and 43% of daily energy expenditure. I had never found this to happen with regular green tea, and I drink a lot of green tea that is not matcha. It has made me a believer that good quality ceremonial grade Matcha tea can make a big difference.
Skin and calm
Matcha is very high in antioxidants and can help your skin glow and repair itself more quickly. [8,9] Matcha can also calm your nerves. The L-theanine and amino acids found in matcha have been shown to help people sleep and can also lead to a feeling of calm. [10]
I was really surprised by how full and satisfied drinking matcha tea could be. I really love it and look forward to drinking it. I usually make it cold with homemade almond milk (recipe below) in the summertime. In the winter, I also have it with homemade almond milk that I warm in my milk frother. There are lots of ways to enjoy matcha. I've included recipes below. You can add it to your smoothies with kefir or yogurt. It has so many benefits, and it's worth enjoying every day. Check out my recipes.
Here is the brand I use, but you can use any ceremonial-grade Matcha Tea
Listen To My Podcast
Being and staying healthy is an ever-evolving journey. As I change and grow older, I have found new things that have profoundly impacted my life. In comparison, these don't always mean cultured foods, but sometimes they are prebiotics that my body needs. Matcha tea has been one of them. Tune in to learn more.
References:
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6064808/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665927122002180#
- https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo2009135
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29345213/
- https://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(15)00134-X/fulltext
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15640470/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17557985/
- https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(05)00252-5/fulltext
- https://www.spandidos-publications.com/10.3892/ijo.18.6.1307
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28056735/
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