Matcha

Does anyone have a product, that kindof changed their life? I'm no great believer in super foods, or miracle cures and diets. But I do have one product that really changed my eating, or in this case drinking habit. It is matcha green tea. In case you have never heard of matcha, it is a powdered green tea leaf. So instead of steeping the green tea leaves in hot water, and just drawing out the anti-oxidants, you are actually ingesting the entire life and all of it's benefits. 1 cup of matcha has as much antioxidants as 10 cups of regular green tea! So good for you! For me, it helped me to stop drinking energy drinks. I used to drink them, a looooot. Like in college I would just drink three energy drinks a day, instead of eating. Can you believe that? I was prone to migraines if I didn't drink one, I would get the shakes if I didn't drink at least one a day, I was 100% a energy drink addict. After college I did slow down a bit, but I still heavily relied on them, my last job I would be presenting in schools all day and I felt like I couldn't get through a day without at least one energy drink, and this was a serious problem. I started to really think about energy drinks, what's in them? I know it's a lot of caffeine, but to be honest that was the least of my worries. I was more concerned about the sugar and the chemicals in them. What were they doing to my teeth, my stomach, my brain??  

I realized that I wanted to stop drinking energy drinks, and I needed something to replace them. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, and when I am it needs lots of sugar to make it palatable, again not great for you. So I started reading up on matcha and I loved everything I read. At first I tried blending it into a smoothie, which was ok, but I didn't feel like that was the best way to drink it. Then I discovered the matcha latte. I heat of half my mug of cashew milk, put in one teaspoon of matcha, no sugar, and whip with a hand held frother until it is really thoroughly mixed (other wise it will taste powdery) and then add hot water and mix again briefly. Keep in mind, this is not how people in Japan drink it, there is much more structure and ceremony to how they drink their matcha, they hand mix it with a wooden whisk and it's very different. You could totally do that your self, they sell tea bowls and whisks at tea places like Teavana but you could also check your local Asian market, like T&T. To learn more about the traditional way of drinking matcha, you can watch this video or read this article, and there is a lot more resources out there. 

Now, this is where the matcha changed my life. If  I had just one matcha latte in the morning, I had energy all day. I never felt like I needed an energy drink. I had steady energy all day while I was at work, and if I was feeling tired when I got home around 4pm, I would have another. There is nothing bad for me in this. No sugar, no chemicals, just nut milk, water and pure matcha. I couldn't believe that tea, just green tea, could be the thing that got me off energy drinks but it did. Do I still have the occasional energy drink? Yes, but maybe 1 every couple months because I miss it, or I didn't drink green tea and didn't sleep well and I'm desperate. I hardly ever get migraines any more, and I feel so much happier to not rely on an energy drink to get me through the day. 

Matcha doesn't have to be expensive, when I bought it at teavana it was over 30 dollars! I couldn't believe it. So I asked my aunt who besides having a PhD in Japanese Literature also lived in Japan for over 10 years, and she said that was a ridiculous amount to pay, so I just buy a thing of it at my local Asian market for 6 bucks. An awesome deal and 100 times cheaper than buying energy drinks. 

I'm not saying that matcha is going to change your life, even though it did for me. But whether you need to get off energy drinks, want to boost your metabolism, or lose weight, or maybe you just really like green tea, try it. It is so good for you, drinking it can only help you.

To learn more about Matcha Tea check out this website: http://matchasource.com/health-benefits-of-matcha-tea/, yes they do want you to buy matcha, no I don't buy from them, they just lay out the information really clearly.

Cinnamon

xx

insta: @cinnamonheartvegan

twitter: @cinnamonheartv