5 reasons to include Matcha in your diet
Matcha has gained popularity in the recent years, and it no surprise as to why with many studies backing the nutritional qualities of incorporating matcha into your diet.
What is matcha?
Matcha is a special form of green tea. It is different most noticeably due to how it's grown. 20 days before it is due to be harvested, matcha bushes are covered up shielding the leaves from the direct sunlight. This helps to boost the chlorophyll levels in the leaves (making them darker). The key to more chlorophyll is that it results in increased levels of L-Theanine, which is an amino acid that you naturally find in plants used for tea. L-Theanine allows this special tea to be both stimulating and calming at the same time.
What are some of the health benefits?
1. High in antioxidants. Like white and green teas, matcha contains high levels of catecholamines, in particular one amazing compound called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Matcha is a super green tea in that it contains significantly more levels of EGCG than regular green tea. Antioxidants have numerous benefits, most importantly, stabilizing free radicals. This in turn, helps to prevent cell damage and chronic disease. (1)
2. Improves Brain function. One small study (2) found that a group taking matcha versus a group not taking matcha had improvements in reaction time, attention, and memory. The effects of L-theanine combined with caffeine helps to promote alertness whilst not getting the energy crash when you consume caffeine.
3. Stimulates weight loss and boosts metabolism. Green tea extract is frequently used in supplements that claim to help boost metabolism, help you loose weight or manage glucose levels. This study (3) showed that by consuming matcha before moderate exercise increased fat burning by 17% compared to those not taking matcha. This article HERE explains further how green tea can boost metabolism and fat burning.
4. Promotes heart health (reducing heart disease). A meta-analysis of 14 randomised controlled trials demonstrated that green tea beverages or extracts resulted in significant reductions in serum TC (triglyceride cholesterol) and LDL-cholesterol concentrations. (4) Another observational study showed that that drinking matcha and other green teas are associated with an overall decrease in ischemic heart disease mortality (6)
5. Some other benefits include.
- Improving skin quality
- Slowing down ageing
- Decreasing cancer growth
- Decreasing inflammation by boosting pro-antioxidant Nrf2 pathways and decreasing pro-inflammatory Nfkb activity
References
(1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26448271/
(2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28784536/
(3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18326618/
(4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21715508/
(5) https://drwillcole.com/functional-medicine/your-go-to-guide-to-the-wonderful-world-of-tea
(6) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11470725/
