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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In modern times, Matcha is often made of blends of Tencha tea-leaves grown on different farms. Manufacturers buy these leaves from multiple farms and grade them according to quality. The highest quality leaves are used in the premium and most expensive Matchas. There are multiple companies in Japan that manufacture Matcha and some have done so for more than 120 years. Living Qi Matcha is produced on farms that have been growing and making Matcha for over 400 years.

Manufacturers of Matcha hire a person very experienced with tea quality for a position called the “tea sommelier.” One of the roles of the sommelier is to combine the Tencha leaves in particular ratios to create complex and subtle flavors. The finest Tencha leaves will make the finest grade Matchas, and though each year’s harvest might vary slightly due to weather conditions or changes in the soil, the company will utilize very specific parameters to assure that the different grades of Matcha they provide remain consistent in color and quality.

High quality Matcha is bright green with a fresh scent. Poor quality Matcha is often yellowish with the poorest qualities turning a dull brown-green.

In a very general way, it is accurate to say that the more bitter a tea is, the more catechin content that tea possesses. Catechins play a huge role in the health benefits of Matcha and green tea. Catechins are antioxidants. On the other hand, the more sweet a Matcha tea is, the more theanine it contains. Umami is a Japanese word that means savory or delicious and is applied to good tasting teas. The word was also borrowed from the Japanese language to indicate and differentiate a distinct taste from other flavors: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Umami is the 5th flavor, synonymous with savory in the culinary arts. Monosodium Glutamate, or MSG, is a synthesized version of the umami taste used in Chinese cuisine to enhance flavor artificially.  Theanine however, has an all-natural umami flavor.

It is glutamic acid that gives the umami flavor its character. Theanine is present in all green tea in varying degrees and is an ethylamide of glutamic acid. Therefore it is theanine that gives Matcha its umami-sweet taste delightfully. So when a Matcha is said to have umami, it means specifically that is has this 5th distinctive flavor, and generally that it is delicious and savory. The delicate balance between bitter and umami is found in the Living Qi Matcha blend.

Some Matcha companies that overly focus on making a very sweet Matcha use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers to artificially drive up the theanine in their tea plants, but we at Living Qi don’t believe that synthetic fertilizers make the best tasting or healthiest Matchas.

When someone has a flair for style and fashion we often say they have good taste. Taste means a discriminative sense. In the culinary arts, taste might mean a perceptive tongue and perhaps a good nose. In fact for wine connoisseurs, a good nose and tongue are a necessity. Yet in modern times taste is often subjected to fads: whimsical diets, fast food trends, and ads focusing on tasting good. In some ways, as westerners, our taste buds are severely limited by our over-focus on sweet and salty foods. The essence of umami as a flavor is balance.

In fashion, we sometimes counter and say someone has a timeless sense of taste. Being timeless often reveals a life in accord with enduring values, someone not swayed by the superficialities of fluctuating movements of what is in vogue at a particular time. Being timeless in the usage of tea might mean being neither overly concerned with the good taste of tea, as in wanting things to taste like a sugary Matcha Lattte, while also not reacting to the evolving modern usages of Matcha from a place of superiority, spiritual arrogance or being overly self important about the formalities of traditional tea culture.

Just as modern American and Japanese people can judge the old values of the tea ceremony as antiquated and carelessly ignore them, or perhaps even be blind to them altogether, so too can the elite of the tea ceremony not practice their own wisdom tradition as they turn up their noses to forms of Matcha consumption not fitting the mold of tradition.

Most authentic tea masters are not snobs or connoisseurs so much as people of wisdom who realize the forms and customs of the tea ceremony are ephemeralities to be transcended in the beautiful qualities of the moment: friendship, beauty, kindness, simplicity, purity.

The English tradition of tea time typically includes black tea (which as we know is only green tea that has been fermented) that often includes a cube of sugar and some cream. It is rich, and sweet, a complex flavor and texture with good cream and sugar balancing any bitterness in the tea. Most people find it delicious. This custom of taking tea arrived from Britain in America in the seventeen hundreds. In fact the Boston tea party was a reaction to the British crown levying more expensive taxes on tea imported by America from Britain.

We have a custom of taking tea sweetly here in the US, especially in the south, which which either invented sweet tea, or excels at its constant consumption. And certain saccharin social qualities of etiquette in the south often annoy people of other parts of the country or cultures as insincere. The incessant sweetness and manners of people of the south, what a bother!

It is the bitter taste that people in the west most often try to avoid. The ability of a person to handle the bitter taste of food or even life, was in ancient days, a sign of depth and awareness in the Far East.

Bitter, in East Asian medicine, is the taste associated with the heart, which is the house of the shen or the spirit of a person. Why is this so? Why is sweetness not the taste of the heart? To understand this paradox is to unravel some insight into the entire wisdom tradition of East Asian medical thought. Since eastern medicine was influenced by the trinity of Taosim, Confucianism and Buddhism, many Buddhist thoughts show up in the medical tradition.

To keep things simple let’s entertain the notion that there is a relationship between the word bitter and the emotional state it is often is used to describe. We use the word bitter to mean resentful or morose. To taste bitterness and still be able to genuinely and authentically remain in happiness is a sign of emotional maturity and wisdom. Perhaps we grow by learning to stomach a little bitterness and adversity.

I often tell the story of the encounter between the diamond merchant and the Buddha to patients who are having a hard time not getting entangled in the immaturity and anger of those they are in relationship with.

It basically goes like this: A very wealthy diamond merchant was about to retire. He had groomed his son since a young age to take over the family business in time. Just as the son turned 18 and was ready to take the helm, the Buddha came to town with a large retinue of followers. The diamond merchant’s son went to hear him speak and that was it, he was converted. He returned home and told his dad he was going to follow the Buddha and left town with the other disciples to learn true and lasting wisdom. To say the father was bitter would be an understatement; he was enraged. He had worked his entire life for the day he could comfortably retire with his son in charge.

So the father waited, month after month, rehearsing what he would say to the Buddha when he finally got his chance.

A year passed and the father got word that the Buddha and his retinue were coming through town the following day. All night the father worked up his rage and revenge plotting how to give the Buddha a piece of his mind.

The next morning as the Buddha walked through the town with his followers, the father rushed up to him and unleashed his anger in torrents. While this verbal thrashing was taking place, the Buddha’s followers, shocked at this outrage and disrespect, were curiously observing that the Buddha did not move, but stood silent, listening to the man with a slight smile on his lips. In fact, the strange thing was that the Buddha even looked a little happy.

As the man realized that the Buddha was so calmly and patiently listening without an ounce of defensiveness or anger and when it dawned on him that the Buddha’s eyes were radiating peace and joy while he was burning in anger, the man had an epiphany.

That day the Buddha won another follower as the man realized all his seeking for wealth through the diamond business was nothing without his peace of mind. He went to give the Buddha a piece of his mind, but he got the peace of the Buddha-mind instead.

Now, the Buddha was a master, and it is not easy to stay non-attached and peaceful when someone is raging at us, so this takes lots of practice and meditation. But this ideal of peace in the face of bitterness is a reason why the masters of the tea tradition are not attached to the taste of bitter tea. They know that the effect of healing will still be available to them as a quality of consciousness rather than as a matter of taste.

In regards to the taste of Matcha, for most tea masters, it is not the greatest concern. Making a good tasting blend is more a matter of being a professional and being good at what you do than a matter of extreme importance. While certainly they are conscious of the taste, over-concern with taste belies a mind overly concerned with the superficial, with appearances. This does not mean they might not feel embarrassed if a bad tasting Matcha was served in ceremony, but that emotion would be as a result of not wanting to displease the guest, as the foundation of the tea ceremony is based on serving others in a unique moment in time: “one meeting, one moment.” The time that a guest comes to tea will be the only time, never again to arrive in that particular moment.

The shakuhachi is a Japanese bamboo flute that was often played by Buddhist monks as early as the 8th century. It has a guttural beauty that a musician can play as though it is mimicking rain, wind and thunder. In the diary of a certain Buddhist monk, a shakuhachi composition called “Mujô Shinkyoku” was found. The name means “that single tune which brings the changing heart of things to mind”, a demonstration of the Buddhist value of transience. A good Matcha and the ceremony brings this same understanding to mind: all things change and eventually disappear, why not enjoy them?

Stay tuned for 2 new Matcha recipes: Greek Yogurt, White Choclate-Matcha Swirl and Patterson’s Matcha and Pistachio Crusted Halibut!

Often people who get too alkaline in the wrong places harbor parasites and worms. By eating an easy to digest alkaline diet, your body is able to detoxify tissues, your liver works more efficiently and your pH balances itself naturally.

Our organic Matcha, Living Qi, is recommended and featured in Toni Toney’s new book: “Get Green, Get Clean EcoDiet: The Secrets of An Alkaline Environment.” Toni’s book is available on Amazon and at other select booksellers.

In her book, Toni conveys with amazing insight and charm, the incredible benefits of creating an alkaline environment in the body. Americans consuming the typical standard American diet (SAD diet) create bodily conditions that are highly acidic and make them prone to all sorts of health problems including pain and inflammation and increased risk of heart problems.

In “EcoDiet”, Toni outlines the simple equation that creates a radically healthy and energetic you: Green foods are high in chlorophyll and provide more oxygen to the tissues. Oxygen helps create a healthy alkaline pH in the body. Because Matcha is so incredibly high in cholorphyll, it is an alkaline superfood. By drinking one cup of Matcha per day you can immediately begin detoxifying the body and changing the body’s pH from acid to alkaline.

Green tea is grown in a variety of climates around the world, and many farmers spray their crops with herbicides and pesticides. China for instance has very poor regulation of its chemical industry. I will never forget taking a bus through the pristine Huangshan mountains and seeing a rice farmer, knee deep in water, spraying herbicides into his crop.

Organic green tea and specifically organic matcha green tea is becoming more popular as people around the world realize the dangers of herbicides and pesticides.

With Living Qi organic matcha you can be sure that your green tea matcha is not adulterated with toxic chemicals that could be harmful to you and your family. Choosing Living Qi organic matcha also supports farmers who must go through a rigorous certification process to insure that their green tea fields are safe and free of chemicals.

Please support us in our mission to educate the public about the importance of organic matcha and please choose Living Qi organic matcha for you and your family.

Folks nowadays are learning about the benefits of cultured foods like kefir and yogurt, and how probiotics can help re-colonize the gut after a round of antibiotics, but consider the incredible insights these scientists are now discovering:

One Duke ecologist recently quoted in Nature stated that even using antibiotics once decimates the flora in the gut so extensively that it will NEVER return to the same diversity and complexity again. He went on to compare the effects of antibiotic use on the gut to clear-cutting and then slash/burning a pristine Amazonian rain forest valley. Once destroyed, the web of interconnected life will never regain its former density or complexity.

Additionally, some physicians are performing fecal transplants on patients who have severe digestive disorders caused by a lack of beneficial micro-flora in their GI tract. One woman, who had lost more than 60lbs and was suffering from a vicious c. difficile infection, received an enema consisting of a small amount of her healthy husband’s stool. Within 2 days the symptoms she suffered for more than 6 months were completely relieved.

Chinese medicine is inherently an ecological medicine in that it starts from a place of recognizing the inherent complexities and interconnections between human beings and the broader environment.
As more research is done, physicians will continue to be more cautious about antibiotic use and may eventually utilize powerful cultured cocktails of beneficial bacteria to combat infections rather than a broad slash and burn technique used today.

No doubt, antibiotics are one of the great discoveries of modern medicine, and yet, if the hallmark of good medicine is evolution and innovation, then beneficial bacteria may be at the forefront of a new ecologically minded medicine.

Research of matcha has shown that it has a beneficial effect on the beneficial colonies of bacteria in the gut. Additionally green matcha tea is highly antibiotic and is used as a detoxifying agent.

I often tell the story of how Norman Cousins discovered that 5 minutes of gratitude radically increased his immunity.  In 1964, Cousins was diagnosed with an incurable auto-immune disease and was told he had 6 months to live. He accepted his obscure medical diagnosis, but instead of giving in to his tragic prognosis, he decided to defy it.

Cousins engaged in a holistic protocol that involved laughter therapy, high doses of vitamins and other natural protocols.

“I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep,” he reported. “When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval.”

After one year he was deemed completely cured. Encouraged by his success, he decided to write a book about how human will, positive emotion and other factors can create health. Meanwhile, UCLA school of medicine invited Cousins to be a professor of medicine. Once at UCLA, Cousins was distraught on an initial visit to the medical library to find that there was virtually zero information on how positive emotion can affect human health. He found scores of research on how stress and negative emotions will negatively impact health, but nothing documenting what he had become convinced of in his own ordeal with illness: that health can be positively affected by joy and positive emotions.

Cousins decided to do an experiment with some MD friends of his to see if joy could immediately affect his immune system. Doctors drew his blood and measured immune system components. They decided to see if 5 minutes of elation and joy could change the status of immunity. They chose 5 minutes so they could make sure that other factors, like lunch, would not influence the results.

Cousins decided to visualize something very dear to his heart at the time and something he had worked very hard for in his own life: world peace. After 5 minutes of visualizing all of humanity working together for international harmony, Cousins felt elated and told the doctors to draw blood again.

Imagine their surprise to find that after only 5 minutes of visualization, certain components of Cousin’s immune system had increased 500%! After this initial trial they discovered some important things. First, they found that in order for the immune system to really show change, a person had to GENUINELY feel joy and elation. IF a person could not truly feel joy, the results would not be conclusive.

What can we learn from Cousins experience? For thousands of years the Chinese have told us that the mind and the mental are the most important aspects of human health. Classical acupuncture theory tells us the the heart is the master of consciousness and that when a person is balanced they will naturally feel joy. Joy is our inherent birth right. It is the natural state of humanity. To return to this state we often need to practice returning there. Your mind just may have more effect on your immune system than all the supplements money can buy. So use this knowledge well, spend 5 minutes right now and see if you can create and feel joy inside your heart. The benefits to your immune system will be huge, but more importantly, you will feel the inherent joy you were meant to feel…at least most of the time.