Load Up on Antioxidants with Healthy Matcha Tea
There are a few things I’m passionate about such as rabbits (especially my 11 year-old-pet rabbit, PJ!), baseball (go Yankees!), and tea … especially green tea! My home is filled with boxes and tins of countless kinds. My favorite is green tea and honestly, it’s because of the flavor. I guess I’m just lucky it’s incredibly good for you too!
Green tea has long been studied and reported for its various health benefits, most notably its high antioxidant content, but matcha green tea is even healthier!
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- One cup of matcha tea has 10x the antioxidants of green or black tea, and gram for gram, matcha has 10-20x the antioxidant power of blueberries, acai or pomegranates.
- Because matcha is actually ground up whole leaves, you get dietary fiber and chlorophyll which does not come out in brewed teas.
- Matcha green tea has theanine which helps promote a calm and focused mind and lessens the caffeine spike so you get a more sustained energy boost.
Since I don’t drink coffee, I can seldom be found in a Starbucks but lately I’ve been craving their green tea latte. Although I rarely have it, when I do treat myself, I make sure to request no extra sweetener but it’s still not optimal or healthy for a variety of reasons. They use soymilk as their only alternative to milk and the matcha powder they use is already premixed with sugar - actually, it’s more sugar than matcha! They add a ton of sugary syrup and it adds up to almost 400 calories and 8 grams of fat with soy milk or 500 calories and 16 grams of fat with whole milk. And to top it off, it’s expensive!
So, this inspired me to make my own version! Below is my recipe for a healthy and super yummy matcha green tea smoothie latte and also a more traditional matcha green tea hot latte.
Abby’s “Green” Matcha Green Tea Smoothie Iced Latte
- 1 tbsp protein powder
- 1 tbsp green powder
- 1 tsp organic matcha green tea powder (I used Organic DoMatcha and since I love a strong green tea flavor, my teaspoon was a huge heaping one!)
- 1 tsp maca (optional)
- 1/2 frozen banana
- Big handful frozen green grapes (about 16)
- 2 cups almond milk
- 1 cup coconut water
- 4-5 ice cubes
- 1/4 avocado
- 1/4 pear
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BLEND!
Notes & Substitutions: Measurements can be varied to taste – i.e., if you’re matcha powder isn’t as strong (or if you really like a strong taste like I do!), feel free to add more or less. I realize you may not have this on hand when you’re green tea latte craving strikes so here are some variations:
- You can omit the protein powder or maca.
- In place of the green powder you can use fresh or frozen spinach, kale or other greens.
- You can use all alternative milk (and no coconut water) or vice versa!
- I use the avocado to naturally thicken so if you want a thinner version, leave this out.
- The pear and grapes were to naturally add sweetness but you could probably leave this out and use stevia, organic raw agave or honey instead.
Green Tea Latte Recipe
- ½ - 1 teaspoon Matcha green tea powder
- 1 ½ cups warm alternative milk (almond, coconut, hemp, rice …etc)
- Natural sweetener of your choice - Stevia, honey or organic raw agave to taste
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Mix a ¼ cup of the warm milk with the green tea powder to create a thick paste. Add the natural sweetener, along with remaining milk. Mix well and enjoy!
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Abby Phon is a certified holistic health & wellness coach, author and public speaker. She received her training at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. She is certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners and is a member of the International Association for Health Coaches. Phon leads corporate workshops on nutrition and lifestyle, conducts food tours, cooking demonstrations and offers individual health and nutrition coaching around the world. Her recipes and articles have been published globally by Conscious Divas, Cafe Gratitude, All Things Healing, EatSmart Products and more.