My green tea, two-week challenge.
I’m all for being healthy – especially with New Year’s resolutions on the horizon. I’ve always briefly known green tea is good for you, because it circles round and yet you never really know if it is true.
With the realisation that the amount of coffee I was drinking was getting just a bit too much, I turned to googling ‘healthy tea’. Bit broad, I know. Teapigs Matcha green tea came up as winning an award for the best fitness and slimming product. The idea that I could say I was using a ‘fitness and slimming product’ and yet just drinking a cup of tea, was very appealing.
Matcha is green tea, but not like the traditional tea you are thinking of. It is made from just one ingredient: 100% organic green tea leaves ground to a fine powder, this ‘super power green’ phenomenon has 15 times the health benefits of regular green tea, is packed full of nutrients, and provides multiple benefits to the body, mind and soul – making it a wondrous ingredient to add to pretty much any recipe. Also, one serving of Matcha contains 6 times more antioxidants than goji berries, 70 times more than orange juice and has 9 times the beta-carotene of spinach.
Teapigs ran a survey, where over 700 people took part in the two-week challenge of drinking it every day, to see the benefits. A whopping 80% said they felt like they had more energy, and 51% said they felt slimmer and trimmer in just two weeks! That was it, I was sucked in and my two-week challenge began.
My Matcha green tea came in a small tin, and I had a whizzer as well to help with the process. On the packet, I was told it could be added to water, hot or cold, juice, smoothies or even yoghurt!
Day 1: I played the safe option and went with hot water. I don’t really like the taste of it, so far.
Day 2: I must say I wasn’t extremely looking forward to drinking it this morning. I have been told you can also have Matcha in shots, with a shot glass and a dab of juice, so I tried it with orange juice. It was better than yesterday!
Day 4: I went for something different and tried it with cranberry juice today, and I was a big fan. Maybe this is something I will try again. I’m drinking it at the same time every day, to see if I can notice the difference when I’m in the office. I wasn’t yawning my way through the slow 9-11am stretch, could it be the Matcha?
Day 6 – Apple juice went with my Matcha today. but I wasn’t loving the taste. I did a Davina workout DVD this evening, and the halfway mark didn’t leave me looking at the clock longing for it to be over soon.
Day 8 – I have noticed my skin is looking better, is this just psychological? I’m not sure, but without make up there are less blemishes and it looks clearer.
Day 10 – Teapigs also say we can mix it into porridge or yoghurt – I was skeptical but I tried it anyway and mixed it into my vanilla yoghurt… hmm not too overbearing, and I think I quite enjoyed it.
Day 12 – Yoghurt and Teapigs again today! I actually prefer it this way, I wish I did it sooner!
Day 14 – Last day of my two-week challenge, I had a shot of Matcha with apple juice today and yes, I did feel like I had more energy. I think that is what I have noticed the most – I feel more awake throughout the day and feel more energised. I haven’t noticed much difference with my skin since day 8 but I feel more relaxed, and raring to go for my day. It has become a habit now, and my pot is not empty so definitely one to carry on.