With so many studies recently talking of the huge benefits to health that green tea can offer us, I was keen to review Yumi Matcha Green Tea and learn exactly what makes matcha green tea different and potentially better for our health.
What Is The Difference Between Green Tea And Matcha Green Tea?
- When green tea is made, you steep then the leaves are discarded. Whereas with matcha green tea, you are drinking the whole leaf that has been dried and then finely ground, giving you more nutrients.
- Most matcha green tea varieties contain more caffeine, polyphenols, and antioxidants than regular green tea and just one cup of Yumi Matcha Green Tea is the equivalent to 10 cups of regular green tea.
- Drinking matcha may help you burn more fat compared to regular green tea because there is more of the amino acid L-Theanine present.
- L-Theanine may also help to reduce the negative side effects some people experience from consuming caffeinated products, but without losing the boosts to mental performance and energy the caffeine can offer.
Benefits From Drinking Matcha Green Tea
Matcha green tea is reported to be able to;
- help improve the look and feel of your skin, slow down premature aging and protect cellular DNA from oxidative stress because it is rich in antioxidants,
- boost non-shivering thermogenesis which means your metabolism may be boosted and so could help you lose weight more efficiently,
- give you a calm alertness that is sustained over the whole day due to it being rich in the amino acid L-Theanine,
- remove heavy metals and toxins that pose a threat to our health,
- help support your immune system and promote overall health because it contains nutrients such as iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium and calcium.
From further investigation into matcha green tea, I also found that,
- an animal study had found matcha green tea helped protect against hepatic and renal damage,
- another had found that matcha green tea helped improve liver distribution and feacal excretion of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) congeners and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) congeners (these are all synthetic chemicals that can be potentially toxic to humans),
- regular consumption may help speed recovery in athletes where their focus is on high-intensity workouts (such as burst training),
- and that matcha green tea contains some of the highest levels of catechins, making this tea a great candidate for a *natural cancer treatment plan (*do discuss with your chosen integrative doctor first though), due to catechins being potent inducers of apoptosis (programmed cell death of cells that pose a threat to the body, or are no longer needed).
What Makes Yumi Matcha Green Tea different?
I really was surprised at how much I enjoyed drinking just plain old matcha green tea powder and hot water. It was surprisingly refreshing, had a very clean, appealing taste and I definitely noticed a boost in energy afterwards. One that was not followed with the typical consequence of a caffeine induced crash several hours later, like when I consume regular caffeinated products. Generally I do not get on well with products that contain caffeine but I have to say there was something different about Yumi Matcha Green Tea and the effects from it where only positive. Perhaps this is because of how it is carefully grown and also because I was cautious to not over drink it whilst I was reviewing it.
The Uji region of Japan is one of the most famous places in the world for growing green tea. Yumi Matcha sources its 100% natural premium matcha from boutique farmers located here, where they use only leaves that are located high up on each plant and harvest only happens during the first and second ‘flushes’ of the tea season. Where the plants have spent three weeks growing under shady conditions, and it is by restricting the sunlight that creates a large increase in the amount of chlorophyll and theanine the end resulting tea contains.
Yumi Matcha state that this then ensures that this ensures their customers receive only the highest quality matcha (which is currently also organic but not yet certified). I can definitely now vouch for this as I believe this is why the finely ground powder was a beautiful rich green colour and had a strong but not overwhelming aroma, and tasted better to me than the green tea varieties I have tried in the past.
How To Enjoy Yumi Matcha Green Tea
Yumi Matcha Green Tea can be enjoyed in all the following wonderful ways;
- simply, with just hot water as a tea instead of coffee (as you will still get your caffeine fix but with more health benefits),
- in your daily smoothies,
- added into desserts, homemade ice-creams, ice-lollies and cakes,
- in a latté.
My Overall Verdict On Yumi Matcha Green Tea
From my research, I can see that the matcha type of green tea actually offers more benefits to health and is presented quite differently to green tea, making it more versatile in its uses. I think it is worth scientists investing funding into more studies on humans to explore and confirm more of the potentially incredible benefits to health matcha green tea can offer, especially when it comes to being used as a natural cancer treatment.
I would say the price was quite a lot at £9.95 for a 25g pouch, but this would typically last you 2 weeks if you were to use 1/2 teaspoon as suggested in your food or drink recipe of choice and is a really premium quality product with your body in my opinion only deserving the best of whatever you choose to nourish it with.
I really enjoyed the taste, was surprised at how well matcha has performed in certain studies, and will consider using it after a strenuous workout myself in future.
I would still advise people to be cautious when using any matcha green tea if they are caffeine sensitive like myself and to avoid using any caffeinated product at all if you are pregnant or breastfeeding (and children should never be given any!).
Should you want to try this vibrant and refreshing Yumi Matcha Green Tea for yourself, then it is available to buy from Yumi Matcha. (P.S. Yumi Matcha currently have this tea on offer for £7.95!).
