by Joi on February 17, 2010
Nothing but love. I’ve got nothing but love for Dr. Al Sears right now. He has the following to say about a close, dear friend of mine, Chocolate:
If you ate chocolate on Valentine’s Day, I have some news for you. You don’t have to feel guilty.
In fact, I have evidence that you may have cut your risk from dying of a stroke nearly in half.
Two studies give us great news about chocolate.
The first study found that people who ate one serving of chocolate per week were 22% less likely to have a stroke.
The second study found that people who ate 50 grams of chocolate once a week were 46% less likely to die following a stroke than those who didn’t eat chocolate.
About 80% of strokes occur when there isn’t enough blood getting to the brain.3 Your brain is starved of oxygen and nutrients and begins to die immediately.
Chocolate helps to counteract that in two ways. It’s rich in antioxidants and helps to increase circulation.
Flavonoids fight silent inflammation, which is the leading cause of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, dementia, and many others.
You can find flavonoids in vegetables, tea, and red wine, but cocoa has more flavonoids. In fact, dark chocolate contains up to four times the antioxidants found in tea.
The good doctor… well, let’s just go ahead and call him the grand doctor… has this advice for finding the best sources of chocolate:
- Look for chocolate that contains 70% or more cocoa. This is the ingredient that contains health benefits.
- Check how much sugar is added to the chocolate you choose. Keep it as low as possible. But choose sugar over artificial sweeteners or chocolate labeled “sugar free.”
- Beware of other chemicals in the chocolate. Choose a brand that has pure ingredients and no chemical additives.
- Make chocolate your special treat of choice once a week.
- You can find good quality chocolate at a health-food store. More and more it’s finding its way into grocery and drug stores. Read the label to be sure of the quality and content.
Only one problem, when he says to make chocolate your “special treat of choice once a week…” don’t you imagine that he meant once an hour? 
Source: Dr. Al Sears
What is Matcha Powdered Green Tea?
Matcha is premium green tea powder from Japan used for drinking as tea or as an ingredient in recipes. While other green teas are grown throughout the world, matcha is unique to Japan. It is the heart of the Japanese way of tea and has been celebrated in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony for hundreds of years. - MatchaSource.com
I am, as I’m typing these words, enjoying an amazing Iced Green Tea Latte. No, I haven’t been to Starbucks (not today, anyway). I made this beautiful and delicious green drink at home using Matcha Green Tea powder from Matcha Source. It’s the first time I’ve used Matcha, but it most certainly won’t be the last.
In preparing for this review, I actually brewed two hot Matcha Green Tea Lattes – one for myself and one for my daughter Emily – she LOVES hot tea but is proving to be a hard one to win over to green tea (don’t know where I went wrong with this girl). I also made an Chilled Matcha Green Tea Latte because I’m addicted to Starbucks Green Tea fraps and have always wanted a way to capture the magic at home.
Emily didn’t know what I was brewing (literally) in the kitchen, so she didn’t know what to expect when I walked up behind her and handed her a hot mug with a little cool whip on top. I’m forever making different types of hot chocolate, lattes, and teas in the kitchen – so her hopes were high. When she saw the green color, though, her smile sort of straightened out and she said, “Oh, Lord.” She knew her green tea loving mom was at it again. My family just never knows what sort of herbal or green teas I’m going to come at them with next!
She took a drink and said, “Wow! That’s actually delicious.” She then finished the entire cup before I could make it back into the kitchen to get back to mine! I sat down at the table, trying to decide if I liked the iced or hot best and she brought me her cup to show off – she pointed out that she’d even “cleaned” the bottom where a few specks had remained. And I hadn’t even sweetened the drinks at all!
One glass of matcha is the equivalent of 10 glasses of green tea in terms of its nutritional value and antioxidant content.
I believe I might like the chilled Matcha Green Tea Latte a little better than the hot, but it’s almost too close to call. Maybe it’s because it’s summer and ice cold drinks just seem so right. I do know that I intend to keep Matcha Green Tea powder on hand from now on.
Matcha Green Tea Health Benefits:
- Rich in Antioxidants: Antioxidants slow down the aging process and help the body to fend off diseases. Matcha tea is actually higher in antioxidants than blueberries and spinach. Somebody had better tell Popeye! A testing method known as ORAC – short for oxygen radical absorbance capacity, evaluates the antioxidant levels found in food. According to research done by Tufts University, the ORAC capacity of matcha green tea is exponentially higher than other foods known for their high antioxidants levels such as blueberries and spinach.The ORAC rating of matcha is 1300 units/g, compared to 105 units/g for pomegranates and 91 units/g for wild blueberries. If that’s not worth a WOW! – nothing is.
- Contains Catechins Only Found in Green Tea: Catechins are a class of antioxidants that are found only in green tea. What’s more, this class may be the most powerful of all antioxidants. And of the catechins, EGCg (epicgallocatechin gallate) is the catechin with broadest and most potent cancer-fighting properties. Sixty percent of the catechin content of matcha tea is EGCg. One gram of matcha contains 105 mg of total catechin content, or roughly 61% EGCg.
- Naturally Mood Enhancing: I’m not sure what the properties or explanations are, but Green Tea simply makes you feel good, and since Matcha Green Tea is green tea on hyper drive, it makes you feel all kinds of good.
- Zero on the Glycemic Index: Will not raise insulin levels
- Cleanses the Body of Toxins: Chlorophyll, the pigment which gives leaves their green color, helps to remove heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body. Because matcha powdered tea is fully ingested when consumed, unlike tea leaves which are infused then discarded, and because matcha is shade grown, a process which increases the chlorophyll content in the leaves, matcha tea is a chlorophyll rich food.
- Sugar-free and High in Fiber: It also gives you more energy – which leads to more activity. Green Tea is a dieter’s best friend!
- Helps you relax: Matcha contains L-theanine, an amino acid known to relax the mind.
I can promise you this: The Matcha Green Tea Latte and Chilled Matcha Green Tea Latte are fantastic. I can’t wait to try the Matcha Smoothie (below).
Matcha Green Tea Smoothie
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 2 tbsp honey or sugar
- 1 tsp ingredient grade matcha
- 1/2 cup ice cubes
Blend ingredients together in electric blender. Pour into a tall glass. Experiment with adding berries, bananas and fruit juice.
For more recipes and to place an order for your own Matcha Green Tea Powder, visit their website. Below are a few links that’ll serve you well!
Matcha Source – Green Tea Powder from Japan
New to Matcha Green Tea?
Recipe for Matcha Green Tea Latte
New Tastes in Green Tea (book)
Recipe for Matcha Ginger Green Tea (Yum!)
More recipes featuring Matcha Green Tea Powder, the surprise ingredient of the summer! These recipes include Matcha Green Tea Ice cream, Matcha Buttercream Frosting (yes, please), Truffles, poached eggs, cookies and more. My family is in for so much green goodness they might just develop a Kermit-like complexion.
Be sure to visit MatchaSource’s shop for Matcha utensils, bowls, teas, etc.
Matcha Buttercream Frosting
The tomato scare is certainly getting a lot of attention, isn’t it? I don’t remember the FDA being quite this cautious with foods in the past. Tomatoes are being pulled from restaurant menus as well as grocery shelves. This particular, and unusual, type of salmonella is called salmonella saintpaul.
Monday morning, the FDA reported there have been 145 reported cases of salmonella saintpaul since mid-April. It’s been identified in Washington, Oregon and 15 other states. Twenty-three people have been hospitalized.
By day’s end, though, the number shot up to 166.
Federal officials have said that cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak. It seems to me that most people are avoiding ALL tomatoes, just to be safe.
I really, really, really feel badly for farmers. The economy’s bad enough without them having this hit them. What a terrible waste. It makes me want to go to the Farmer’s Markets and buy even more of everything else. Oh, yeah, I see me spending a lot of time at roadside stands – even more than usual.
