Lean Green Superfood: Matcha for Weight Loss

As a green tea lover of many years, I know of the reported benefits: high in antioxidants, energy boosting, appetite stabilising (no riding the serious ups and downs of coffee!), but matcha green tea is a new beast. Entirely more intense than your standard green tea.
Matcha is touted as being the anti ageing ingredient the Japanese have been indulging in for centuries. American, UK and Australian holistic health practitioners are raving about its benefits and while it isn't going to cure cancer or immediately see you drop 2 dress sizes, it DOES have research to back up some serious health and fitness benefits.

• Rich in trace minerals and vitamins, matcha is consumed by adding hot water (NOT boiling!) to powder and drinking the entire concoction, ground leaves and all
• The vital ingredient in matcha is a substance called EGCC (epigallo-catechin gallate), which has shown weight loss benefits in numerous studies.
• Levels of EGCC are 137 times stronger in matcha than green tea
• Like all green superfoods, matcha contains chlorophyll, minerals and vitamins that support the immune system and deliver powerful antioxidants
• L-Theanine levels in matcha green tea can have a calming effect within 30 - 60 mins of consuming the tea

The greener the powder, the higher the quality of the tea. While EGCC has been shown to prevent the growth of new fat cells and to aid in weight loss, this is only of benefit as part of a healthy regime of eating and exercise overall. You can't drink matcha while you're gobbling KFC and expect miracles. Try replacing your second coffee, or your afternoon Diet Coke with matcha to avoid the jittery caffeine effect. A great post-workout beverage as well - stabilising your energy and appetite before your next meal.

Matcha Maiden Matcha Green Tea Powder from Nourished Life

Izu Japanese Matcha Green Tea from Tealyra

Going Green for Protein & Cleansing & Superfoods Affair

No, I'm not about to set up home in the tree tops, scaling up and down the trunk by rope and sending communications via pigeon.

I'm just going to green-ify my insides and refresh, rejuvenate, re-energise.

I'm not into a cleanse or a detox. I don't believe the body is "toxic", only some of our habits. You can't outrun or disguise bad habits but you can gradually try to build and establish good ones.

The more good habits, the better. Some naughtiness and indulgence is absolutely necessary for the spirit so don't become a total puritan!

After indulging my coffee habit to the point of 8 hardcore black coffees a day, I know I need to face the horrible sleep deprivation and wonky appetite I've dealt myself. I'm going green.

I've stocked up on green tea and can't wait until Forest Superfoods starts stocking matcha green tea. Soon, I'm promised.

In the meantime, I've ordered moringa powder and aloe vera juice. There's every sort of green and raw, natural supplement you could want or need and they are super friendly. I had questions and mere minutes after sending an email, bam! Responses. 

Moringa contains proteins, vitamins, and minerals. It's commonly used in Africa and India as a treatment to restore nourishment where vitamins and minerals are sorely lacking. The leaves, when dried and powdered, can be used as a condiment or added to your daily juice/smoothie. 

It is also recommended for iron deficiency, arthritis and rheumatism (joint pain), heaches, fluid retention and to boost the immune system after an infection.

Or just too much coffee.

Moringa Powder from Forest Super Foods

My nan once snapped off the sharp blade of an aloe vera plant and told me the juice would nourish my skin and clear up spots. Since this same woman taught me that boston bun is the best frigging sweet thing on earth and buying fish and chips then wrapping it in your own newspaper like you prepared it yourself, I totally trusted her. Not only was she correct that aloe vera is nourishing and cleansing when applied to the skin, it is also a great tonic to drink. Hugely popular in herbal medicines, it contains many vitamins including A, C, E, folic acid, choline, B1, B2, B3 (niacin), B6. Aloe Vera is also one of the few plants that contains vitamin B12. Some of the 20 minerals found in Aloe vera include: calcium, magnesium, zinc, chromium, selenium, sodium, iron, potassium, copper, and manganese.

PLUS it aids in digestion and stomach pain. Again, coffee havoc.

Aloe Vera juice from Forest Super Foodshttp://forestsuperfoods.com.au/

Thanks nan.

Supplements. Women, Food & Desire

How are these relevant and interlinked? 

Think about what you eat and drink daily and how much of that is dictated by what you think you should be eating, should be drinking...the pills or herbs or blended green mulch you should guzzle according to magazines, your Chinese Medicine practitioner, your naturopath!

There's a whole website I could devote to desire and women's food and choices around their bodies, but thankfully, someone much more expert has dedicated a book to it and it is new to my bookshelf. It's called Women, Food and Desire by Alexandra Jamieson.

Admittedly, I'm yet to really delve in and read it thoroughly, but I fully intend to! The book encourages us to "Embrace your cravings, make peace with food, reclaim your body' - a message that I need and that many women do. It certainly doesn't mean go and eat a block of family sized chocolate and feel empowered. It means look at why you so want to eat chocolate, whether you can stop at 2 squares of it, and why you might feel bad about wanting it, let alone eating it. Awareness of your body makes you stronger, more attuned to it. More peaceful in your own skin. You can follow author Alexandra Jamieson on Twitter.

The book is available through Hachette Australia.

Anita Bean is a well-known and much respected nutritionist from the UK. Her latest book out is Sports Supplements 2nd edition: Which Supplements Really Work. I have a sometimes-I-do...sometimes-I-don't approach to vitamin and mineral tablets, but I know what works for me and I know where my diet falls short of giving me what I need, or how my body responds to particular stimulants, and I choose when and how much is necessary when it comes to taking tablets or capsules. Her website is a thorough introduction to her work.

The book is available at Bloomsbury Australia.

Have you considered that your barista is actually your supplement dealer? Well, that bearded beacon of hope every morning is in fact also your ticket to a more powerful Power Yoga! Anita's book not only looks at your run of the mill multivitamins and protein bars, but also coffee, herbal supplements, antioxidants, common "fat burners" and performance enhancers such as creatine and

DHEA. What the effects are, what the side effects are, and what the studies show in terms of effectiveness. My drug of choice is caffeine and Anita informs: "Caffeine is a stimulant...It works by increasing levels of endorphins (hormone-like substances) in the brain. These endorphins affect mood state, reduce the perception of fatigue and pain, and create a sense of well-being. Thus caffeine helps increase alertness, concentration and performance; and reduces fatigue. It can also help increase muscle fibre recruitment..."

Studies have proven that taken 30 minutes to 3 hours prior to performance, caffeine can improve sprint times, increase endurance ability and reduce feelings of tiredness and fatigue.