Get Merry With Matcha This Holiday

Finalist in the 2019 Writers Contest – Health & Well-Being Category

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Are you struggling with the proverbial question of ‘should you be naughty or nice’ this holiday when it comes to how much you can indulge?

Indulging not only affects your waistband but also impacts your skin and energy levels. Over the years, I’ve discovered some little tips to help me stay on track so my waistband doesn’t pop and I have enough energy to entertain and be entertained.

Japanese green tea is loaded with numerous beneficial compounds including caffeine, which a lot of people misread as a negative. Green tea holds much less caffeine (24-40mg) than a cup of coffee (100-200mg) but it also contains L-Theanine and catechins which alter the effects of caffeine by metabolizing it and allowing it to slowly enter the bloodstream so you don’t get the caffeine jitters.

I’m focusing on the caffeine in green tea, especially matcha where you are consuming the entire leaf, because caffeine has been shown to increase your metabolism – which leads to increased energy and ultimately boosts fat burning.

Here are five things to keep you in control during the holidays:

1) Increase the amount of green tea you drink throughout the day, as it helps with appetite suppression. Japanese green tea naturally curbs those cravings, but you need to listen to your body and not the crowd of people offering the holiday cookie and candy tins to you!

2) Take a hot green tea bath before bed. Use some regular or nearly-out-of-date loose-leaf green tea, put it in a nut milk bag or a clean stocking, and toss it in the bath with hot water. This is relaxing and the hot water opens the pores so the green tea benefits can soak in through your skin. A foot bath would also work if you don’t have a bathtub.

3) Focus on your skincare routine to look as fresh and energized as you can during the rough winter months, especially around the holidays. Chiki Tea partnered with a skincare expert in the UK to create a matcha rejuvenating cream that works miracles by feeding your skin with pure superfood matcha and palo santo oil which reverses the aging effects of pollutants in our environment.

4) Your hair needs attention too! Fill a spritzer bottle with cold steeped green tea and lightly spritz it on after styling, or generously spritz before drying. This will help with the condition of your hair.

5) Find any way to add matcha into your meals…dust on veggies, put into salad dressings, add to pancake and waffle batter, sprinkle on cereal, dust on ice cream…you can add it to literally everything so get creative!!