The Living Qi company began sourcing organic matcha green tea from small organic farms in 2008. Since that time we have developed a very large and loyal customer base due to our commitment to finding the best USDA organic matcha Japan has to offer. Based in Asheville, North Carolina, we call our matcha, Radiant Matcha™, because it is a vibrant green and superior in taste and quality to all other matcha products we have tried.

You can now purchase our Radiant Matcha™ at Earth Fare in West Asheville, at the French Broad Coop in downtown and at Black Mountain Natural Foods in Black Mountain. Additionally, many fine food establishments and cafes in Asheville are now carrying our Radiant Matcha™ products. If you have a suggestion for a location that would be a good fit for our exquisite matcha, please let us know.

Thanks so much for your continued support, Asheville!

This matcha cocnut milk smoothie is a delicious and healthy way to start a morning. If you like, you can add whey protein powder:

1. One half can organic coconut milk (Whole Foods brand is good)
2. 16 ounces of organic coconut water
3. 2 grams Living Qi organic Radiant Matcha
4. One or two medjool dates, without pits
5. Blend all ingredients together, pour into a tall glass and enjoy!

Matcha, the ceremonial green tea of Japan only used by about 1.5% of the Japanese people, is powdered Camellia sinensis, often of exquisite quality. As a ceremonial item, Matcha is considered a luxury tea in Japan, though it is booming in popularity in North America and in parts of Europe. Good taste in Matcha is a skill developed over time, but it is not a universal given. Taste is subject to culture, zeitgeists and belief, more than it is a talent of the senses. To acquire good taste in Matcha green tea is to attain an attitude towards it informed by the history of its use. In understanding current Matcha use and trends, the more threads of Far Eastern medical history and the ideas that informed and wove it into creation we apprehend, the more integral and profound our understanding and taste becomes. The same holds true for culture, politics and religion in Far East Asia as they all entwine fusing an ideological milieu that has supported Matcha use and the elaborations of the tea ceremony over millennia. The wide range of Matcha usage in North America today, from gourmet cuisine ingredient and Starbuck’s latte to green tea ice cream and meditation aid, reflects our American tendency to reinvent tradition and experiment.

To buy the highest quality organic matcha in the world, click here.

The Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA, reported a study in 2006 on green tea and longevity completed in Japan. It is important to remember that the green tea used in the study was not matcha green tea. Matcha is powdered green tea and the nutritional benefits of matcha are known to be at least ten times higher than a typical cup of green tea. Future studies may reveal that only one cup of matcha a day will achieve the same results as the study based on the nutrient density and health benefits of matcha.

In 1994, the Ohsaki National Health Insurance Cohort initiated a study of over 40,000 Japanese adults.  Researchers discovered that people who drank five or more cups of green tea a day had a death rate that was 26% lower than non tea drinkers at seven years into the study, and 16% at eleven years. Green tea was particularly effective in reducing the risk of heart disease.

Multiple studies have proven that consumption of green tea helps prevent cardiovascular disease and one of the possible mechanisms of this effect is mediated through the preservation of Nitric Oxide in the body. Nitric Oxide, or NO, assists with vaso-dilation. The polyphenols in green tea, particularly EGCg, slow Nitric Oxide degradation. For more on NO and matcha see my other blog article: “Matcha and Nitric Oxide.”

The JAMA study concluded: Green tea consumption is associated with reduced mortality due to all causes and due to cardiovascular disease.

To buy the highest quality organic matcha in the world, click here.

Reference: JAMA. 2006 SEP; 296(10):1255-65.

Let’s not call it anti-aging for a moment. Let’s follow the example of longevity teacher and daoist energy master, Peter Ragnar, and call it pro-youthing. Ivy Greenwell wrote an article in 1999 about the health benefits of green tea for Life Extension Magazine. Greenwell observed the profound effects of matcha green tea on longevity by watching the amazing vitality of her neighbor, a practitioner of chanoyu, or, the tea ceremony. She concluded her thorough analysis of green tea with the following:

“I have a Japanese neighbor, one of whose friends happens to be a teacher of the tea ceremony, even though she is over one hundred years old. She amazes her younger friends by how fast she can walk up the stairs and how sharp her mind is. (How many Western female centenarians are still active in their profession, and still able to climb stairs?) Now, the teachers of the Japanese tea ceremony drink a very potent brew of green tea (called matcha). Basically, they sip it all day long. My neighbor reports that one time her centenarian friend gave her this piece of advice: ‘You want to live a long time? Drink a lot of tea.’

The super high anti-oxidant content of matcha is one of the reasons that it helps people live longer lives, but there are many other health benefits. Research on more than 40,000 Japanese people demonstrated that regular consumption of green tea reduced mortality by 27% from ANY cause. Green tea also prevented cardiovascular disease, the number one killer in the USA. So, for a serious pro-youthing strategy and if you want to live past 100 with vigor and strength, consider making matcha green tea a stable part of your diet.

To learn more about our matcha products, click here.

I would like to thank Dr. Sara Solomon P.T., DMD for using www.living-qi.com as a resource for her excellent article: The 8 Wonders of Matcha Green Tea, which was featured on the www.bodybuilding.com website. Body builders everywhere will be thrilled with the amazing health benefits of matcha green tea. Body building and matcha go hand in hand as matcha helps burn fat and rev your energy levels without the harsh side effects of common energy drinks.  With 137 times the anti-oxidants of regular green tea, matcha is the healthiest green tea in the world. Still, all matcha is not created equally. I highly recommend organic matcha, as does Dr. Solomon, certified by the USDA because there are many cheap green tea powders out there, some of questionable quality. In general the bright green organic matchas are good, while non-organic yellowish to brown matchas are suspect. There is no high quality matcha sold in a tea bag! To buy the highest quality organic matcha in the world, click here.

Inflammation is the evil twin of oxidation. The aging process is characterized by oxidation. In other words, in a forest fire or a bonfire, the wood is being oxidized or burned up. When a person ages and gets wrinkles, their tissues and skin are getting oxidized.

A Time magazine cover a few years back heralded the bad news: “Inflammation: the silent killer.”

Inflammation can be like a forest fire in the body, as in some severe inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease, or it can be like a fire in which there are only a few embers glowing here and there: unexplained pain in the joints, for example.

How do you put out a fire in the body? You put out the fire of inflammation by understanding the power of anti-oxidants.

Anti-oxidants are found in most plants, vegetables, and herbs. They protect the brain from shrinking and the brain and body from low level inflammation that damages neurons and nervous system tissue, thus affecting memory and cognitive function.

Why do humans achieve longevity when they consume copious amounts of anti-oxidants? Because their bodies are protected from the fires of oxidation…they don’t wrinkle as fast, shrink as fast or lose their minds…at all.

Now you know one of the reasons I keep hammering home the importance of our organic Matcha green tea and why I drink matcha green tea everyday. While gojiberry, dark chocolate, wild blueberries and spinach are great anti-oxidant foods,

Our organic Living Qi Matcha green tea has:

6.2 times the anti-oxidants of goji
7 times the anti-oxidants of dark chocolate
17 times the anti-oxidants of wild blueberries
and 60.5 times the anti-oxidants of spinach

Right now our organic Matcha green tea is on sale at only 29.99 for a month’s supply…and by month’s supply I mean that one can will last a month if you drink it EVERYDAY. Some people drink it every other day or 2-3 times a week and one can lasts them 2-3 months.

Drinking one cup of our organic matcha gives 137 times the anti-oxidant power of a regular cup of green tea.

So, organic matcha is one way to put out the fires of inflammation, oxidation and aging.

Click the map image above to enlarge it and to see measurable levels of radiation in certain parts of Japan…And know that most of the matcha you buy is grown near Kyoto….read on…

Many customers have asked me about radiation in matcha green tea since the nuclear power plant disasters in Japan. The Japanese government monitors the situation very carefully and reports on radiation levels after extensive air, soil, plant and food testing. The Living Qi company has also monitored this situation carefully, consulting with our experts in Japan. Since the nuclear disaster in Japan, we have only purchased our USDA organic matcha from the Aichi prefecture, near Nagoya city in Japan. There has been no measurable radiation at all in the entire Aichi prefecture. If you click on the image of the map, you will see the results of measured radiation levels for parts of Japan where matcha is grown. The numbers at the very bottom of the map were for Kyoto city, indicating the amount of radiation found in Kyoto city. As most matcha comes from or near Kyoto, this is very alarming.

Most companies sell matcha that is not USDA organic and is also from or grown near Kyoto prefecture and Kyoto city. As you will see in the attached map, low levels of radiation have been measured in Kyoto prefecture and in Kyoto city. Therefore at this time, Living Qi does not buy matcha from Kyoto or anywhere that has measurable levels of radiation as we do not want to sell matcha that has been contaminated.

Our Living Qi Radiant Matcha is 100% free of radiation and certified by the USDA as 100% organic. As a health care professional this is the only brand I can recommend at this time.

To see the full map reporting on radiation levels in Japan you can click here.

To buy 100% USDA organic and radiation free Living Qi matcha, click here:

Matcha Maca Energy Shot

This is a simple way to make an all-natural Matcha-Maca energy drink at home. Matcha is powdered green tea and Maca is a root indigenous to South America and used as an herb to stimulate energy, endurance and libido. The flavors of Matcha and Maca combine very well to make a delicious and nutritious coffee substitute and healthy energy drink.

1. Add one gram Living Qi’s organic Radiant Matcha into your favorite bowl

2. Add one gram organic Maca powder to the bowl

3. Add one cup of hot water (176 degrees or so). Adjust water to taste

4. Whisk with a bamboo whisk until all clumps have dissolved

5. If you want it sweeter: Add one teaspoon organic honey, brown sugar or stevia to taste

To see more delicious Living Qi Matcha recipes click here.

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1. The truth about soy
2. 7 tips for overcoming anxiety
3. The power of greens
4. 4 simple healing practices
5. How to dissolve fear in an instant
6. Living past 100