Women have been drinking it to help improve menopause symptoms and this specific blend, known as Tava Tea, also claims to promote well-being and soothe aches and pains.

The tea’s all natural ingredients increase the metabolism and reduce food cravings to fight weight gain, something which is common during times of heightened hormonal activity.

Regular users claim it does help them lose weight, decrease their hot flushes and give a greater sense of well-being. Dr Tim Thurlings, who developed the tea’s unique blend, says that by simply drinking a few cups of the tea a day users can expect to lose between 2-4lbs week.  Sounds a little unlikely to me unless it’s also balanced with a sensible diet but he also claims that the tea helps reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure and decrease the risk of developing some forms of lung cancer so you’re getting overall health benefits as well as a nice refreshing cuppa!  As it also contains polyphenols it theoretically could help fight the ageing process too but I wouldn’t want to guarantee that.

It is certainly a great deal more expensive than any ordinary tea, but as one teabag makes up to 8 pots (full instructions with each box) and you get all those health benefits it may well be worth it.  I know many women who can’t put a price on being able to reduce their hot flushes. If this interests you it can only be bought online so visit www.tavatea.co.uk

Organic matcha from specialty company Teapigs comes from the renowned Nishio region in Japan, where the tea leaves are grown under cover for the last few weeks to produce the maximum amount of amino acids and the chlorophyll that gives it the green colour. The leaves are then dried and very slowly ground by a granite stone to a very fine powder, which is then packed and sealed immediately to lock in all the nutrients. Just a quarter teaspoon of this bright green powder gives you the same health benefits as equivalent of15 cups of regular green tea and contains 70 times the antioxidants of orange juice, 90 times the beta carotene of spinach plus vitamins A, B and C.

What more can you want? The thing I particularly like about green tea is that it is both energising and calming and because matcha is a fine powder that you mix with hot or cold liquid there is no waste as you have the whole leaf in powder form. Matcha can be drunk like any normal green tea – with hot water – though I prefer to start the day with it on an empty stomach and mix it with juice or a smoothie. It feels odd to be glugging down a green liquid, but the result is worth it. When I am packing for a stint as a speaker on a cruise ship, it’s the first thing into the case!

If you have had an overindulgent Christmas and New Year followed by this debilitating cold weather then that can really impact your health. A simple way to remedy that is to use matcha in a smoothie recipe for breakfast to set you up for the day. This delicious recipe was devised at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurant in London

In a blender put the following:

2g (approx 1/2 teaspoon) matcha

1/2 apple

1/4 stick celery

2 sprigs mint

1/2 banana

1/2 pear

Blend and drink- delicious