Dump those green tea drinks, go Matcha?

We've all heard the hype about green tea being good for us, which also helps explain the unprecedented recent explosion of green tea drinks, foods, supplements, even deserts.

But don't be fooled by clever back-of-bottle marketing such as, "Now with EGCG!" or the overused, "Contains green tea antioxidants!"....which makes it sounds like literally anything containing a microscopic amount of low-grade green tea extract is going to give you the kind of health benefits that true high-quality, whole-leaf, shade-grown, fresh Tencha-grade green tea can provide.

Not even close, no contest: Imagine the difference between drinking water containing a small amount of old, processed, diluted orange juice-derived flavoring, compared to eating a...well, a whole organic orange!

Fortunately, more and more people are learning what many in Japan have known for centuries: to get the full benefits of the green tea plant, the maximum impact, you have to "get the best and drink it whole": Matcha.

What is Matcha? Real Matcha is the very high-quality, stone-ground powdered form of select shade-grown Japanese green tea leaves. It's like regular green tea on steroids, and then some: rather than just drinking green tea leaf-infused water, when you consume Matcha, you're actually getting the whole green tea leaf, and a very high quality green tea leaf at that (real Matcha should be shade-grown, carefully prepared Tencha-grade), so you're drinking the full benefits of the best of the green tea leaf.

Countless studies over the years have illustrated the health benefits of green tea, and recently it seems like there's an explosion of new green tea findings: from lowering your risk of stroke to lowering cholesterol to fighting cancer to fighting cavities and gum disease to increasing mental clarity without the jittery effects of coffee. The list of potential benefits seems endless (we encourage you to do some research yourself).

But here's the amazing thing that many don't know: high-grade Matcha green tea in particular is exponentially more powerful than regular brewed green teas, so it's like amplifying all of these wonderful health and mental benefits in as little as one comparative serving. For example, Matcha green tea has approximately 70 times the antioxidants of orange juice, even higher than blueberries, and its unique EGCG catechin element (the subject of much current research) is one of the most powerful immune-boosting and anti-cancer substances known.

And guess what? Matcha green tea contains approximately 137 times the amount of EGCG as regular steeped green tea. Wow!

Imagine what that does to your brain and body if you drink it every day.

Of course, there's no one single cure all "superfood" that you should take at the expense of an overall healthy diet. Yet, you do have to wonder why the Japanese (particularly ritualistic Matcha-drinkers) seem to live longer than people elsewhere. And just how those Japanese monks are able to focus and concentrate intensely for 12-hour marathon meditation sessions. Maybe it's because they always drink matcha at the beginning of these sessions? Matcha is an integral, interwoven part of the religion, the meditation and ceremonies.

And they've been doing it for over 800 years.

But there are numerous other health benefits that you might not know about: several studies have shown it possess anti-viral and antibiotic properties, which assist with everything from digestion to killing harmful bacteria to helping prevent colds and flus. It increases your mental alertness and sharpness while also providing an almost meditative focusing, calming quality, which explains just why those monks in Asia have consumed Matcha religeously (pun intended), for over 800 years right before their long meditation sessions and ceremonies. It also has a naturally high vitamin C, flouride and chlorophyl content, among other vitamins and minerals, and nine times the beta carotene of spinach.

The list goes on, and we could go on. What else can we say other than it's good stuff.

So where to find Matcha?

Fortunately, thanks to the recent health discoveries about Matcha combined with increased awareness and popularity in the West, you can find various grades of Matcha powder in more and more places these days. More and more gourmet supermarkets, and some specialty tea shops in upscale shopping malls are starting to carry Matcha, as do some web-based green tea suppliers.

But be warned: not all products labeled "Matcha" are real, true, high-quality shade-grown properly prepared tencha-based Matcha! Some are just ground low-quality Sencha leaves, some even add coloring or flavoring or sweeteners...yuck!

Fortunately, we recently discovered what we've found to be the best overall Matcha supplier out there: Zen Matcha, www.zenmatcha.com.

The people behind Zen Matcha really know their stuff, and clearly care about the health of their customers. We first tried their top-grade organic Matcha at a Whole Foods store demo, and were so impressed that we tracked them down and wanted to learn the full story behind their Matcha, company philosophy, sourcing from Japan, quality and testing, everything.

We're pleased to say that we were so impressed that we've decided to run ads for Zen Matcha on our site, for free (that's how much we care about people discovering Matcha!) So, check them out, and see their "store locator" at www.zenmatcha.com for a retail location near you. If you're outside their current store locations, you can contact in their customer service department to order their Matcha and have it shipped directly to you.

We're not affiliated with them, so this is not a product plug. Give them a try, it's just amazing stuff compared to the other Matcha (and swill called Matcha) out there). And tell 'em that you heard about them via BrainReady! :)

Discover the power of Matcha for yourself, and be sure to ...

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