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Eisai realized that drinking matcha before meditation would help maintain his concentration, and he brought the matcha to Japan," says Asako Miyashita, RDN, a nutritionist based in New York. "The most famous story is that Japanese Buddhist monk Myoan Eisai left for China to find green tea. These days, you can pretty much find it at any American coffee shop, but matcha’s rich history dates back to the 12th century and has been an important component of Japanese tea culture for more than 800 years.
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Because it's packed with a higher concentration of nutrients than you can get from the traditional variety, you can expect getting way more from matcha benefits. Matcha is a powder made from ground-up green tea leaves.
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It's a type of green tea, but not the loose-leaf kind you steep in hot water. As more and more people are trying to cut back on coffee, many are turning to matcha instead, a caffeine-rich alternative well known for its vibrant color.
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