Hi, this is Monica Reinagel, the nutrition diva, here with your quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Today's show is about Macha and it was suggested by an email I got from

Marsha who also happens to be my mom. Yep, her nutrition questions go into the queue just like yours.

Well, Machia is having a little bit of a moment right now,

but it's been around for centuries.

And while it's not going to torch body fat,

kill cancer, detoxify your organs,

or lower your cholesterol,

as some of the websites out there claim,

it does contain many beneficial compounds. The word

Macha is Japanese and it refers to a particular way of processing and consuming

green tea. Green tea that's grown for

macha is covered with clods for several weeks before it's

picked and that stimulates chlorophy production and it makes the leaves

even brighter green. The leaves are then harvested, steamed, and dried,

as they would be for tea. But then, instead of steeping the dried leaves in hot water

to make an infusion, the leaves are ground into a fine powder.

The traditional macha beverage is made by adding a teaspoon or so of this bright green

powder into a small amount of hot water and whisking it with a special

little bamboo whisk until it's frothy.

And you could also put mache powder into foods such as noodles, muffins and even ice cream. So what does

Macha taste like? Well the flavor is quite a bit more intense than

...