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Tea Matcha has gained a lot of craze in the past few years due to all the amazing matcha benefits. The Japanese and Chinese have been sipping on matcha teas for centuries. Matcha is nothing but a finely grounded powdery form of immature green tea leaves.
Matcha is not only used in teas but as a flavoring agent in many dishes. Many restaurants have made exclusive matcha flavored desserts. Matcha benefits our health greatly and should be consumed by almost everyone. Matcha is green in color and is also used to give the food a desired green tint.
Matcha benefits our body way more than any other caffeinated beverage1 can. Hence, it is more suggestible to switch to tea matcha instead of other beverages.
How Is Matcha Made?
Matcha leaves are cultivated a bit differently from normal tea leaves. The leaves are grown in a shade so that the bushes are covered by sunlight. This causes an increased build-up of chlorophyll which leads to the leaves turning a darker green color.
This process also causes the production of thiamine2 and other amino acids in the leaves. The process of making matcha powder may take up to 20 days.
The best-handpicked buds are used to prepare the powder. The leaves are then laid out to dry and after they are dried properly, they are crushed to make a light green fine powder known as matcha.
It takes time to make matcha powder. One hour of finely done stone grinding can produce approximately 30 g of matcha powder. This is the reason why matcha is more costly than other tea beverages. It is time-consuming and takes labor work.
The flavor of matcha tea has a slight amino acid dominance along with bittersweet and a bit of vegetable-like flavor.
Why Is Matcha Tea Different?
Matcha is also a form of green tea and overpowers all the other beverages. Matcha benefits our bodies more than regular green tea. Matcha has a beautiful green color that stands up to the term green tea. The color of the more expensive product may be on the darker side.
As it is in a powdery form, it dissolves easily in food and water. This makes it easier to flavor dishes and other drinks which is why this beverage flavor is so hyped nowadays. Matcha also has high antioxidant density levels3 and nutrients as compared to the other drinks which lead to many matcha benefits.
And to all the caffeine lovers, matcha has considerably high amounts of caffeine in comparison to other teas. But not as much as coffee though. Drinking a cup of green tea is good but drinking matcha tea is the best. 8 ounces of matcha tea contains roughly 70 mg of caffeine.
All this brings us to tea Matcha benefits. Given below is a list of many of the tea matcha benefits and why you should consider drinking matcha tea.
The Matcha Benefits
The Japanese have always looked up to green matcha tea as a medicine for a long and precious healthy life. Because of the high levels of antioxidants and nutrients, there are a number of green tea matcha benefits.
1) Improves Skin Health
Matcha is said to have an ORAC value of 1384. ORAC stands for oxygen radical absorbing capacity. This helps in removing the free radicals4 present. This in turn makes the skin glowing and smooth. It also helps fight against pollutants and other chemicals that cause damage to our face.
It reduces the risk of blemishes and acne and gets rid of spots as well.
Consumption of matcha benefits the ageing of the skin greatly as matcha prevents wrinkle formation and keeps our skin younger looking.
2) Calms The Mind
A cup of matcha tea after a day full of exhausting work has proven to be effective in relaxation. Matcha benefits the mind by calming it down and giving out a wave of relaxing energy. The natural antioxidant called theanine, present in matcha tea helps in soothing and pacifying the mind.
Consuming matcha tea avoids the sudden energy outburst we usually get after coffee consumption due to caffeine. Instead, tea matcha benefits the mood by slowly releasing caffeine into our system which in turn leads to an uplifting demeanor.
And it is always said that you need to have a good mood in order to carry out a task properly. Hence would help improve work efficiency as well.
3) Improves Cognitive Performance
Matcha benefits involve a large number of positive outcomes in relation to our mind. Cognitive performance is very necessary when we take up a task. Matcha helps increase cognitive performance. It helps increase concentration which in turn stimulates our brain to give more attention.
Once proper attention and concentration have been attained, our brain’s overall cognition function seems to improve leading to an increase in work efficiency.
Matcha benefits also involve the production of quick psychomotor responses by the brain as well as fast neural responses. This feature is very essential to carry out daily tasks – especially for those who tend to have a very hectic schedule throughout the day.
4) Helps In Disease Prevention
As we all know, matcha benefits our overall health. Overall health as in prevents diseases and ailments in our body. This is possible because of the antioxidants present.
Antioxidants namely – Catechins, EGCG and Theanine are the roots of disease prevention during the consumption of tea matcha. Catechins help in stabilizing the free radicals and help in reducing the cells that cause damage to the body. This helps in decreasing the risk of acquiring chronic diseases like hypertension.
The antioxidants ECCg also decrease the chances of carcinogen production in the body which helps in decreasing the risk of cancer in people.
Apart from that, it has been observed that people who consume tea matcha have a healthier heart and lesser amounts of cholesterol levels in their body. This in turn decreases risk of heart diseases.
Even though matcha has caffeine in it, it still prevents increased blood pressure as the onset of caffeine release is slow and not abrupt.
5) Detoxes The Body
Matcha is grown differently than the other teas. The chlorophyll content in matcha is higher than the other teas, along with nutrients like vitamin C, selenium, chromium, magnesium and zinc.
This leads to the matcha benefits that include detoxification of the body. The main cause being the abundance of chlorophyll content. A detoxed body makes us look younger and more attractive as well as makes us feel healthier and energetic as well.
6) Increases Immunity
Matcha benefits our immunity system at large. As we have seen that matcha has the highest level of antioxidants and nutrients, which helps strengthen the immunity system of the body.
A stronger immune system means the body is less likely to be affected by any external agent. People who drink tea matcha have lesser cases of flus or allergies as compared to those who don’t.
Even if you sip a cup of hot matcha tea while you are sick you may feel better right after it. It provides energy and helps our immunity fight against the external agents that could weaken our system in any way.
The next time you feel sick or suspect a sore throat, you could sip on the matcha tea for relief.
7) Increases Liver Health
Studies have shown that tea matcha benefits our liver by improving its overall health functioning. The liver plays an essential role in flushing out toxins from our body. It is also responsible for metabolizing drugs and processing various nutrients ingested in the body.
Study showed that matcha benefits the liver by protecting it. Not just the liver but also the kidneys. Studies have also shown matcha benefits reduce the risk of liver disease – especially fatty liver disease and helps balance the production of liver enzymes for smooth functioning.
8) Helps In Weight Loss
The most famous of matcha benefits is the miracle aid it provides in losing weight. Many people have found tea matcha to be beneficial and to have helped them in their journey to weight loss. Matcha benefits in weight loss have been proven to be very effective. This is because matcha increases the metabolism of the body.
An increased metabolism causes a faster rate of fat burning in our body while we perform any activity. Matcha burns fats at a rate of approximately 35% more than that of the other drinks.
Matcha is also said to help in natural weight loss. If you wish to skip the gym and only drink tea matcha with a proper diet, you may be able to lose off those extra pounds that you have always wanted.
As for the gym freaks, it is always essential to consume tea matcha as a pre-workout so that it will increase the amount of fat burned and also keep you energized throughout the workout.
9) The Glycemic Levels Are Zero
One of the bonus matcha benefits is that matcha is a zero on the glycemic levels5. This means it does not cause a spike in insulin levels in the blood, making it safe for diabetic patients.
It also helps prevent diabetes and aids balanced sugar levels in the blood. And finally, reading about all these amazing matcha green tea benefits ought to make up your mind about adding one cup of self-brewed hot tea matcha to your daily routine.
Powdered green tea can be taken in the form of matcha lattes, tea, and many more other drinks.
There are not many side effects of drinking matcha tea and even though matcha tends to be a bit expensive, I think every penny is worth it as it provides equally effective benefits to our body and mind.
- Mitchell, Diane C., et al. “Beverage caffeine intakes in the US.” Food and Chemical Toxicology 63 (2014): 136-142. ↩︎
- Woolley, D. W., and A. G. C. White. “Production of thiamine deficiency disease by the feeding of a pyridine analogue of thiamine.” Journal of Biological Chemistry 149 (1943): 285-289. ↩︎
- Xu, Ping, et al. “The effects of the aqueous extract and residue of Matcha on the antioxidant status and lipid and glucose levels in mice fed a high-fat diet.” Food & function 7.1 (2016): 294-300. ↩︎
- Djordjevic, Vidosava B. “Free radicals in cell biology.” International review of cytology 237.237 (2004): 57-89. ↩︎
- Dhir, Sangeeta, Subhash Wangnoo, and Viveka Kumar. “Impact of glycemic levels in type 2 diabetes on periodontitis.” Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism 22.5 (2018): 672-677. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology
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