Matcha green tea has been cultivated for over a thousand years. And if you haven’t done it yet, this is the moment. That may have piqued your interest, but what exactly is it? Is it distinct from regular green tea? Is it better, if so?
MATCHA 101
First, let’s clarify the difference between green tea and matcha. Let’s start with the basics to clear things out. It is a kind of green tea. That is, not all green tea is matcha, but not all matcha is green tea.
Because it is cultivated and processed specifically for it, the nutrients in the tea leaves are more strong, and you receive more of that leaf in your drink.
It is essentially a more effective vehicle for delivering the benefits of green tea (think caffeine and antioxidants) to your system.
WHAT MAKES THIS SO SPECIAL?
To be clear, all green tea is beneficial to your health. It just provides some of the advantages in a concentrated form. Here are a few of our fave matcha attributes:
IT IS HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANTS
It is higher in antioxidants than other types of green tea. This essentially implies that it provides your cells with extra resources to combat harm, allowing your body to stay healthy and prevent chronic illnesses, cancer, and other diseases.
IT PROVIDES A NATURAL ENERGY BOOST
It has more caffeine than green tea because it is more concentrated. For comparison, an eight-ounce cup of regular green tea has around 28 mg of caffeine. That’s around half the caffeine amount of black tea and a quarter of the caffeine content of an eight-ounce cup of coffee. To be honest, unless we pay attention, we can drink a cup of green tea and not experience any energy increase.
However, it is unique. It can contain twice as much caffeine as green tea, or possibly more, depending on how it is prepared.
