Green with envy: Matcha madness

These days, it seems like the latest health trends center on hyper-nutrient green items. We have all read once or twice about our good friend kale or enjoyed the elegant, refreshing taste of spinach in our smoothies, but there’s another green ingredient we need to remember to add to the mix: matcha.

Matcha, a catchy word and dynamic powder made from green tea leaves, is a mood-enhancing, chlorophyll-rich antioxidant that doubles as a sugar-free powerhouse coffee substitute. Matcha lattes, matcha smoothies, matcha muffins, matcha you-name-it can be found at local coffee shops, from Starbucks to Coffee Bean, as well as an abundance of special matcha-teria’s opening up in L.A. According to CBS News, matcha tea sales in the U.S. have increased five-fold in 25 years to more than $10 billion dollars.

So what is all the hype over this green goddess? Matcha isn’t just tasty and refreshing ­­—it’s considered to have more health benefits and 10 times the amount of antioxidants than the typical, straight cup of green tea.

“With matcha, you are consuming 100 percent of the leaf, rather than just what’s steeped outside into the water, as you would with green tea,” Jessica Lloyd and David Mandelbaum of famous matcha company Panatea told New York Magazine. Lloyd and Mandelbaum also said that with only 34 milligrams of caffeine and high levels of amino acids like L-theanine, drinking a serving of matcha gives a feeling of “calm alertness.”

It keeps energy levels up for three to six hours so that you are more present during the day. It also is low in acidity and easier to digest unlike coffee, which upsets many people’s stomachs. Drinking matcha also doesn’t come along with the jitters and crashes that one may experience when drinking coffee.

Matcha can be easily prepared: poured into a cup of warm or ice cold milk, brewed into a latte, blended into a smoothie or added to home-baked treats.

All that glitters though is not gold — or green. Even though matcha is rich in antioxidants and loaded with health benefits, it is hard on the wallet. Matcha is a drink of expense as well as with anything in excess it can and should only be enjoyed in moderation.

Here’s not to say that you shouldn’t splurge because it is absolutely quite tasty. Check out these places in L.A. that serve this Insta-worthy delicacy and see for yourself:

• Urth Caffé (many locations around L.A.— Iced matcha with boba is my favorite)  
• MatchaBox: Matcha-teria in downtown L.A.
• Four Leaf (little teahouse located in Little Tokyo)