Breaking
FoodNerdy Recipes Management System
Tag

Matcha Tea

Browsing
Food

Matcha Tea: Its Healthy Effects on the Body

Matcha tea and its special properties at a glance. We will tell you everything about the effect of Matcha tea and how you can prepare Matcha tea successfully. Because regular consumption has many positive effects on your health.

Matcha tea is made from green tea powder and comes from Japan. It is very popular because it is said to have a very healthy effect. Accordingly, it can reduce stress and prevent cardiovascular diseases. That’s why you should definitely try it.

History of Matcha Tea

Tea has always been an essential part of the local food culture of the people of China. According to Chinese legend, the divine ruler and plant expert Shen Nong tested numerous plants on himself about 5000 years ago. His goal was to find useful species that could be used to make beverages with medicinal properties, giving rise to tea. Later, Buddhist monks traveled to China. From there they brought green tea to Japan as a meditation drink.

This is how the preparation and drinking of ground tea, the so-called Matcha, became known. While it was gradually forgotten in China, it became increasingly important in Japanese Buddhism. Today it is regarded as the highest quality and rarest type of tea in Japan and is still characterized by its meditative and health-promoting effects. Also, note other superfood foods and their benefits.

Manufacture of Japanese Gold

Matcha is a tea that is only made from the finest components of the green tea leaf, the fine leaf flesh. As a result, it is also characterized by strong, green color. To harvest, the tea is ground in stone mills into an extremely fine powder. Only the freshest leaves with a smooth aroma are suitable for further processing into matcha. This corresponds to about five percent of a tea bush.

Since the tea is very elaborate and produced according to centuries of tradition, it is considered a particularly noble and high-quality type of tea and is correspondingly expensive. Nevertheless, its valuable ingredients and its invigorating effect make it so popular. The cheaper alternative would be soothing green tea.

The healthy Matcha tea effect

Scientific studies confirm: Green tea has a health-promoting effect if it is drunk daily. The ingredient EGCG has an anti-inflammatory effect and has a positive effect on diseases of the immune system. Matcha is even said to have health-promoting effects on cancer, as it appears to inhibit tumor growth. And by enjoying Matcha tea, the body absorbs not only the water-soluble but also all the water-insoluble active ingredients in green tea. This includes valuable ingredients such as:

  • chlorophyll
  • antioxidants
  • catechins
  • Vitamins A and E
  • beta carotenes
  • minerals
  • proteins
  • cell fibers

Benefits and uses of matcha tea

In the following, we have listed the advantages of regular consumption of tea. It is important to note that most of the findings come from studies with animals and cannot be transferred one-to-one. Nevertheless, the results show the valuable and healthy effects of matcha.

1) As a healthy alternative to coffee

Matcha is not only healthy, it also has other great properties. Because the tea is a real pick-me-up. As a result, it represents a healthy alternative to classic coffee. It contains half the caffeine of a cup of coffee but is just as invigorating. At the same time, it has a balancing effect due to the large number of amino acids it contains.

2) Stress reduction through matcha tea

Since the popular tea contains the ingredients theanine and arginine, it contributes to effective stress reduction. A few amounts of matcha powder are sufficient. So you should treat yourself to 2-3 delicious matcha biscuits or a cup of green tea a day.

3) Matcha tea for weight loss

In addition, Japanese researchers have discovered that catechins boost the breakdown of fat in the body. For this reason, it is increasingly used in diets. Consequently, it is one of many effective tips for losing weight faster without having to give up anything.

4) Effectively protects the skin

Matcha is also a very good skin and sun protection. If the body is exposed to direct sunlight for a long time, free radicals damage the cell membranes of the skin. This causes them to age faster. The catechins contained in Matcha prevent the radicals from penetrating the skin and prevent wrinkles and skin damage.

5) Lower blood pressure with matcha tea

Since matcha powder is made from green tea and is a good home remedy for lowering blood pressure, it can be assumed that it will have a similar effect. Consequently, this could prevent strokes and cardiovascular diseases. However, you can do just as well with the cheaper green tea.

Keep Reading
By
Food

Matcha Tea: Does The Green Pick-Me-Up Make You Healthy and Happy?

Matcha tea was and is the best and finest tea in Japan, which used to be reserved for the elite only. The bright green, frothy drink is still considered a cult drink.

However, the trend towards matcha tea did not come to Germany directly from Japan, but from the USA. Stars, starlets and wannabes have been spotted there with the green “in” drink in their hands for a number of years.

It is said to make you slim, fit and healthy, and helps fight signs of aging and even cancer. Like all other green teas, it also serves as a stimulating alternative to coffee with its caffeine content (tein). Is the expensive cult drink worth its price?

Why is matcha tea actually powder?

Matcha tea is one of the green tea varieties and is traditionally drunk in Japan. The tea probably originally came from China, but was forgotten there. Unlike “normal” green teas, matcha tea is not prepared as a decoction of tea leaves, but from a bright green powder.

This powder consists of finely ground green tea leaves from which the stalks have been removed. “For Matcha of the highest quality, the tea farmers even remove the leaf veins by hand,” explains Heidrun Schubert from the Bavarian Consumer Advice Center

Only the pure leaf remains, which is also consumed as a whole in tea. Since matcha tea is a so-called “shade tea”, the tea bushes are shaded with bamboo mats or similar four weeks before harvest. This makes the leaves particularly intense green.

Prepare matcha tea

If the matcha tea from the green powder is not brewed properly, neither the taste nor the effect are said to be right. Preparing matcha tea is part of a tea ceremony in Japan. You don’t have to make a ceremony out of it at home, but it still takes some practice and effort.

The water for the foamy tea should be as soft as possible, it must have a temperature of 80° Celsius when brewing. The easiest way to check this is with a roast thermometer. About a teaspoon of the powder goes into a bowl, which you then pour on with around 100 milliliters of water.

Then manual work is required – matcha tea has to be opened during preparation. To do this, take a special broom made of bamboo (the Chasen) and stir with a loose wrist in your own movement until the powder has completely dissolved and a fine foam has formed on the surface.

The right accessories

In order for the preparation to succeed, you need the right accessories – a normal teacup or blender is not enough to create the perfect foam. A set consists of the already mentioned bamboo whisk, a suitable bowl and a bamboo spoon for portioning the tea powder. Purists or lovers then get a suitable ladle and a Japanese kettle.

Keep Reading
By