Recipes
How to Make a Matcha Latte + Health Benefits
By katiestewartwellness · January 1, 2019 · 3 min read
Matcha Latte
When selecting a matcha, it’s best to choose an organic tea that is 100% pure. Since matcha is a more expensive tea, it’s commonly cut with rice, corn starch, and sugar. The price tag on matcha is definitely worth it when it comes to your health.
This is one of my most requested recipes so I shot a Facebook Live video on it, too! Check it out here.
Matcha vs. Green Tea
Matcha powder is made from grinding young tea leaves into a bright green powder. When you drink matcha you’re actually consuming the entire leaf and receive 100% of the nutrients from the leaf.
In comparison to regular green tea, matcha has 137 times more antioxidants. This means drinking just one cup of matcha is equivalent to having 10 cups of regular green tea. Antioxidants are critical to your health as they fight off free radicals that promote aging and chronic disease.
Matcha vs. Coffee
One cup of matcha contains about half the amount of caffeine as a regular cup of black coffee. While it does contain caffeine, it affects your body in a different way.
Caffeine from coffee is a hard and fast effect that spikes and then plummets, leaving you feeling fatigued and your adrenals in a state of imbalance. While matcha contains caffeine, it’s also rich in the amino acid, l-theanine.
This rare amino acid promotes a state of relaxation while improving mental alertness. L-theanine also allows for a slower absorption of caffeine which keeps your adrenals and blood sugar levels happy and balanced.
Health Benefits of Matcha
- Calms the mind and relaxes the body
- Enhances mood and aids in concentration
- High levels of the detoxifier, chlorophyll
- Contains the cancer-fighting antioxidants, catechins
- Boosts metabolism
- Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar
Matcha for Beauty
Being your body’s largest detox organ, your skin is a window into the body. Breakouts and blemish-prone skin are usually a sign that your body is having trouble effectively detoxifying. Chlorophyll helps to detoxify your body and reduce its toxic load. In turn, your skin will become clearer.
The same antioxidants that stop free radicals from causing disease, also neutralize the damage they cause to our skin. They help promote healthy and radiant skin, hair and nails. Also, the polyphenols found in matcha can reduce inflammation and fight certain types of bacteria that increase breakouts. This is why my clients over in The Clear Skin Solution love this recipe so much!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tsp organic matcha powder
- 1 ½ cups hot coconut almond, or cashew milk
- 2 tsp raw honey or maple syrup
Optional Boosters
- 1 tbsp grass-fed collagen powder
- 1 tsp coconut oil or coconut butter
Instructions
- Add all ingredients, including any boosters, to the blender and blend on high until well combined and frothy.
- If not using a blender, whisk milk into the matcha until well combined. This works best using a matcha whisk. Stir in honey or maple syrup and any optional boosters.