Matcha green tea is the
trendiest health-booster du jour,
with everyone from the enviably svelte Millie Mackintosh to the super strong
triathlete Alison Steele declaring themselves fans of the green stuff.
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When the lovely people at teapigs asked me if I’d be interested
in taking part in their matcha challenge and offered to send me a matcha kit of
my own, I obviously said YES PLEASE AND THANKS (especially given the festive
over-indulgence which had just occurred.)
What is the matcha challenge,
exactly? I hear you wondering, oh, curious one. Well, basically you drink matcha
tea daily for two weeks and see how you feel. Simples!
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Um, but what IS matcha
tea? Ahh yes, good question. To quote teapigs:
“Matcha is 100% natural, organic green tea leaves which have
been carefully ground down to form a fine powder.
It has been drunk in Japan as part of the tea ceremony for
almost 900 years, and is used by Buddhist monks to keep them alert, awake and
focused during long days of meditation.
Until recently, virtually all matcha has been consumed
within Japan, where it's particularly popular among students who are cramming
for exams. [HIYA!] But it’s now gaining popularity in the UK, too, and it can
be found in cafes, health food shops and smoothie bars.”
Would you believe I
actually saw an ad for a matcha latte here in D-land at the weekend!? And if
the Germans are on it, it’s got to be good, right? I mean, just look at their
economy!
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Now I know, I know… Lots of people drink green tea. But matcha
is different. With green tea, you brew your cuppa then throw away all the
goodness in the teabag. With matcha, however, you drink the tea as a fine
powder diffused in liquid, thus consuming the whole leaf and getting all the
super green goodness.
So, what’s so good
about it? Here are the claims:
·
Increased
energy: I could quote all the scientific stuff from the website, but to be
honest I don’t really understand it. So I won’t. Long story short, matcha
should raise your energy levels, increase your alertness and improve your
concentration for up to six hours. Not too shabby, eh?
·
Weight
loss: Drinking matcha increases something called your thermogenesis, which apparently
then increases your daily energy expenditure – AKA burning more calories
without even doing anything. (Don’t mind if I do!) It was also voted ‘best
slimming and fitness product’ in 2011 by ‘Your Healthy Living’ readers.
·
Healthier
skin: This is all getting a bit scientific for me, but matcha naturally
contains these things called polyphenols which apparently work as an effective
agent for the prevention of sun induced skin disorders.
·
ALL the
antioxidants: Matcha contains 137 times the antioxidants of regular green
tea… And I’m thinking that’s an awful lot of antioxidants! I don’t know much
about what they’re supposed to do but I know they’re good.
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| Antioxidants in matcha compared to other superfoods |
So, having read the reviews and claims, I had high hopes for
matcha and was excited to start my challenge! However, I have always
instinctively turned my nose up at the prospect of green drinks – I’m all for
being healthy but don’t think I’ll ever be one of those people drinking kale,
spinach and celery juices. Blergh!
I noted down my thoughts throughout the challenge, and here’s
how I got on…
My first day of the matcha challenge was also a fast day for
me (on the 5:2 diet). There are various ways of drinking matcha, but I decided
to make simple matcha tea after my usual morning cuppa – simply half a teaspoon
of matcha powder whisked into boiling water (an electric milk frother is best), then topped up with boiling water.
As I opened the can for the first time, a
green powder floated into the air. I’ll be honest, it smelt a bit like
pondwater… Considering I don’t even really like green tea, I wasn’t overly
looking forward to it.
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| My first matcha tea |
How does it taste?
Here’s what I wrote down after my first matcha experience: 'Well, alright. It’s
not what I’d call tasty but it’s drinkable. Not unpleasant as such, but I
wouldn’t exactly order it for the taste.'
After my first cup of matcha I was
hoping it might start tasting better the more I drank it. Maybe mixing it with other flavours or knocking it back in a shot is
the answer, I thought, and I decided I’d have to explore my options as the
challenge went on. Hopefully the health
benefits will outweigh the lack of deliciousness, I said to myself. I certainly
felt energised over the day, and I do think it helped me through my fast day,
keeping hunger pangs at bay.
On day two I made a matcha shot with apple juice which is a
good way of getting it down you quickly.
Make sure you don’t fill your shot
glass (mine was part of the matcha set I was so kindly sent) much more than
halfway as otherwise it’ll go everywhere when you whisk and you’ll have a matcha-ified
kitchen!
The next day I tried whisking my matcha into a large glass
of squash. My thinking was that then I wouldn’t taste the matcha, but I needed
to make the squash reeaaally strong, and it still didn’t taste great! I was starting
to think the shot is the way to go in that you get it over with quickly!
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| I'm not sure how teapigs made these shots look so good... |
On the fourth day of my matcha challenge I made a shot with
orange juice. This was slightly more bearable. Unfortunately the taste
definitely wasn’t getting better like I’d hoped! It is NOT nice, I’d written in my notes. However, I felt like I had
more energy and put more oomph into my dance fitness DVD!
A matcha shot was also the order of the day on day five – by
this point I’d decided matcha actually does taste revolting (sorry – it’s just
my opinion), BUT my skin was definitely looking clearer and brighter already
which I was LOVING!
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| Matcha latte (yes, in a Christmas market glass, warum nicht?) |
The next day I tried a matcha latte with honey and
sweetener. This was probably the most bearable way of drinking matcha but still
wasn’t that pleasing to my tastebuds and also means you’re consuming a lot of extra
calories through the milk.
For the rest of the challenge, I drank my matcha in a shot –
morning shots, WAHEY! – usually with juice. I hold my nose as I down it, and
always have another drink on hand to take the taste away afterwards. The thing
is, I know other people do like it, so please don’t let my lack of matcha
flavour enjoyment put you off.
Teapigs suggest mixing it into porridge, yoghurt or
smoothies, but as the flavour is so strong, I couldn’t bring myself to do this
in case it ruined the taste of whatever I was eating. They also have recipes for matcha ice cream, martinis, cookies and more online, should you fancy being adventurous...
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| Teapigs make it look so yummy! |
Despite not liking the flavour, I think the health benefits
of matcha are worth it – my skin’s clearer, I do seem to have more energy and I
feel less hungry (I think), but I don’t think it’s helped me lose any weight. I
suppose the proof is in the fact that I’m going to carry on taking my daily matcha
shot even though the challenge is up!
Intrigued? Well, teapigs have got a pretty good offer on at
the mo should you fancy trying it yourself: Head on over to the teapigs website
to buy your matcha, try it every day for 2 weeks and see how you feel. You'll
receive an email from them after two weeks with the link to the matcha
challenge survey - tell them how matcha has made you feel and they'll give you
a discount for 20% off your next matcha order. Not only that, you'll also be entered into a draw to win a year’s
supply of matcha and some lovely goodies from skin care experts, Ren! All the deets are here.
Thanks so much to teapigs for sending me my own matcha kit
to try – I’m definitely going to carry on with it!
Have you ever tried matcha? Or are you tempted to? I'd be really interested to know!
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