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Hi!
I'm so happy that the weather has shifted. Now that things have cooled down to more normal summer temperatures, we will be able to be at 5 markets again this weekend! Hooray!
This week, as part of my plan to share more of the WHY behind aMYLK, I thought I'd highlight a very special product that maybe doesn't get all the hype that it deserves: Matcha!
My dear friend Lauren introduced me to Matcha. Lauren is the founder of Mizuba Tea Co. here in Portland. She took me under her wing at my very first pop-up at Anthropologie and she also taught me how to use the Instagram platform. I love her so much. I remember those early days of my business where I would run over to her studio with a bottle of aMYLK and she would make us some matcha lattes and teach me how to film content videos. This is how I came to love matcha and I'm starting to drink it more and more.
If you aren't a tea lover, don't shy away from matcha. This tea is different. When you consume matcha, you're consuming the entire leaf in powdered form which means that you are accessing 100% of the leaf's nutritional value and that value is significant!
Because the matcha that we use ( we use Mizuba Tea Co.) is grown under shade cover for 4 weeks, it has highly concentrated levels of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll helps aid detoxification and the elimination of heavy metals, chemicals and toxins from the body.
Matcha is also one of the best food sources of a group of disease fighting antioxidants called catechins. Catechins play a vital role in protecting our bodies from disease. There are over 100 times as many catechins in matcha as in steeped green tea.
Research shows that matcha could significantly help to protect the body against heart disease, diabetes, cancer and even Alzheimer's. It can also make you feel good. Matcha contains an amino acid called L-theanine that helps to produce dopamine and GABA in the brain, which can reduce anxiety.
Perhaps the most surprising research that I found was that daily consumption of matcha may help with weight loss! An article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicated that drinking green tea high in catechins (matcha) daily over a period of 12 weeks “might be useful in the prevention and improvement of lifestyle-related diseases, mainly obesity.”
Does matcha contain caffeine? Yes, but in my experience you do not feel the same kind of effects from matcha that you do from coffee. There is significantly less caffeine in matcha than coffee and the L-theanine binds with the caffeine to help release it over a longer period of time so that you feel calmer, and more energized without feeling jittery. I find it to be the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. (It's doubtful that I'll ever give up my morning coffee, but we will see!)
Ready to level up your health routine? Pre-order matcha aMYLK by Wednesday at noon and we will have it waiting for you at the market! Though not available for pre-order we will have a small amount of matcha hazelnut, one of my favorites, available at our markets this weekend as well!
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