TANABATA Japanese Organic Green Tea More about MATCHA

"Matcha green tea lattes take over "Starbucks" West Coast

Adapted from an Interview by Amy Carmichael of The Canadian Press

Medbroadcast Health News - Dec. 27th, 2004

VANCOUVER West Coast bartenders have given up Red Bull, brokers are powering past the espresso machine and everyone's quit smoking, so why drink coffee?

People in the know have moved on and are licking green mustaches as proof of their awareness, strong desire for wellness and enlightenment.

It comes from Matcha, a potent green tea powder that is taking over coffee house menus and going mainstream in lattes, iced green teas, smoothies and green tea facials - in prestigious anti-aging spas and wellness clinics.

While Vancouver's Infuze Teahouse owner, Brian Takeda claims to have helped spark the Matcha craze locally, last year, serving the ancient green tea beverage in a swanky, uber modern, downtown, spaceage-styled boite, it was actually brought to Canada and North America several years earlier by Okimasa Matsuda - 12th generation Tea Master, of Kyoto and introduced to Canada and North America by Janina Kulhay-Matsuda, a Canadian! They are the undisputed pioneers and authentic experts in the field of "Green Tea Therapy." Okimasa and Janina are green tea specialists - educators and professional green tea consultants, as well as passionate advocates of the "Art of Japanese Green Tea," called "Cha no yu" and the spiritual Way of Tea, called "Chado."

California is transfixed by the city's appetite for Matcha and now, so are Canadians. Europeans (especially Germans and French) have been thinking green and drinking green tea for decades and always insist upon the finest Japanese, organic quality - never teabags or Chinese green tea!

Infuze's owner ministered to curious yoginis, fashionistas and cool hunters, giving customers a quick lesson in the preparing Matcha, for an on-the-run kind of lifestyle, with a few health benefits. "The caffeine in green tea functions differently, producing a different feeling than you get from a cup of coffee," he says. Matcha's high L-theanine content relaxes the brain, muscles and blood vessels, akin to a dopamine effect, which in turn calms the central and peripheral nervous systems, improving moods, sleep patterns and more, confirms Janina Kulhay-Matsduda, owner of Toronto's Kulhay Wellness Clinic & Anti-Aging Centres.

Janina Kulhay-Matsuda is also President & Owner of TANABATA Company - "Green Tea Therapy" Specialists and has studied Japanese green tea and Matcha for over 15 years, in Kyoto. Her husband is also one of Japan's top three, highest level Tea Masters - 12th Generation and his green tea farm only grows authentically Japanese, truly organic and JAS Certified-Organic green tea, on their own tea land, in WazukaValley, Kyoto!

"Matcha has the lowest caffeine level of any green tea. It's the amino acid, called L-theanine, found in Matcha that makes people alert, focused, yet NOT hyper, like coffee beverages. The body can't absorb it as quickly as caffeine, so that pick-me-up lasts for about eight hours. At the same time L-theanine acts on the brain to relax and focus people, keeping them calm, improving concentration," Kulhay-Matsuda states. It acts like a natural dopamine effect on the central nervous system, relaxing the brain and body and it actually improves sleep patterns, moods, stress levels, etc. She also wants readers to know that coffee is highly acidic and green tea is the opposite, it's alkaline. An acidic body is the breeding ground for disease. Green plants, eaten in as fresh, pure plant form as possible are superb detoxifiers and natural liver/blood cleansers!

It gets better still: a cup of Matcha contains 70 times the antioxidants of a cup of orange juice and nine times the beta carotene of a serving of spinach. Kulhay-Matsuda recommends it to diabetics because she says it also safely yet effectively balances blood sugar levels in the body, with its naturally high amounts of polysaccharides. That's another reason why green tea is so beneficial for diabetics. (More health benefits about Matcha, here.)

All that goodness comes without the gut rot, jitters or headaches that can be found at the bottom of a coffee pot. East Coasters still have to sort through the seaweed and sushi rice on the shelves of Asian markets for Matcha and when they find it, it's usually stale. Tanabata "Green Tea Therapy" products are NOT found in grocery stores - only in select health food stores, with wellness professionals on staff, anti-aging clinics, some sports/medicine clinics and leading spas, world-wide.

Tanabata Company flies their home-grown Japanese organic green tea from their little family green tea valley, in Kyoto, directly to Canada, within 10 days! Fresh is best!

Matcha is mixed in a traditional Japanese bowl with a bamboo, hand-split whisk. Matcha is unique and growing and preparing it for packaging is carefully done - it's time-consuming and labour-intensive. It's grown in beautiful, emerald green tea fields, in perfectly shaped, neatly aligned rows and shaded for about 2 weeks, to further stimulate it rare, aromatic bouquet, its robust taste sensation and amazing health benefits.

It is then picked by hand - not my machine (as Sencha is), immediately steamed-washed, dried and the entire leaf is carefully ground into a silky, micro-fine powder. (This field-to-package process only takes a few hours and it stops fermentation, preserves its vibrant green, natural colour and awesome efficacy.) Each bowl is individually blended by hand, with fresh, spring water that is heated to a precise temperature. Because consumers are actually drinking the plant, instead of just water infused with tea flavour, its natural medicinal properties are concentrated and one is in effect consuming the whole plant.

Kulhay-Matsuda states that Matcha improves digestion and regularity, it's an excellent detoxifier, safe weight loss supplement, it's super nutrient-rich support, potently active and is an anti-aging TONIC (high in potassium and zinc), when it's drunk daily! (She highly recommends Tanabata's original, "Green Tea Therapy" creation, called "Matcha Sencha" SUPER AntioxidanTEA (a perfectly balanced blend of Matcha and Sencha powder, for ultimate wellness!)

Milk and honey interfere with much of the tea's healing properties, she warned and it's powerfully healing Catechin levels are reduced with dairy. That being said, Kulhay-Matsuda suggests putting a 1/2 tsp. of "Matcha ZEN" or "Matcha Sencha" into a bottle of water/juice, shake it up and drink it on-the-go. She also recommends everyone try sprinkling a spoon of Matcha powder into your morning power smoothie, with fruit, some organic soy/rice milk or onto vanilla ice cream, to make real, green tea ice cream, the way it's made in Japan - with a dramatic explosion of Matcha green tea flavour in your mouth! If you love green tea, it's an experience not to me missed! It's a healthy dessert the whole family will love!

Most nutritionists and health professionals agree at the very least that it is a mega source of antioxidants, a significant source of minerals and vitamins, fortifying the body and brain, which can lead to improved general health, stress reduction, relaxation (due to Matcha's natural L-Theanine content), anti-aging and longevity.

Emily Cheng-Koh, a Chinese medical practitioner in Toronto, said Matcha has been shown to help the lungs dissolve mucous and phlegmatic accumulations. "It is good for the immune system, a good complement to a healthy diet, but it's not something I would use as a therapy on it's own." Japan, she said, has the highest rate of smokers and yet the lowest rate of cancer!

Kulhay-Matsuda warns readers to always be sure to select fine quality Japanese green tea, for the highest medicinal properties and lowest levels of caffeine. She always promotes certified-organic quality in green tea and foods which are regularly consumed, for safety and optimum health and never low quality teabags or green tea from China - only loose-leaf tea or green tea powder (which is even more super nutrient-richsince one is consuming the whole leaf and plant fiber, as opposed to just steeping the leaves and throwing them away.)

Tea Master, Okimasa Matsuda, states, in a rather zen way that, "Green tea should be GREEN." He insists that it must be fresh, fragrant and delicious - NEVER bitter and if it is, that means it's not fresh and very poor quality and in fact it may contain harmful dioxins, herbicides and pesticides, which can be detrimental to one's liver and life. Matsuda passionately believes "green tea should be GREEN," not yellow and definitely not brown! Unfortunately, in China - the government has no spraying controls, but in Japan the government and green tea associations are very strict and carefully monitor all farms, especially those with organic certification standards, which are the highest organic standards in the world!

The Japanese culture lives the longest in the world and has the lowest incidence of disease, which is directly attributed to the daily doses of naturally-occurring zinc, found in green tea. Okimasa states that in Japan, we don't drink 15 cups per day - never. But, we do stop, take some time to relax periodically, throughout the day, just a few minutes per day and drink a few small cups per day. Everyday is the key and so is seeking a more balanced lifestyle of not just hard work, but relaxation and play as well.

World-famous medical and alternative wellness doctor - Dr. Andrew Weil was interviewed, on the programme "Larry King Live" and asked if there was one thing in the world that he would recommend that we should all change, to improve our health and ultimately our lives. Dr. Weil said, "stop drinking the bad caffeine, stop drinking coffee and start drinking Japanese green tea, everyday!" Dr. Weil enjoys drinking Japanese Matcha green tea powder, daily and strongly recommends that we only drink Japanese green tea, not Chinese tea, as a life-enhancing tonic.