The Health Benefits of Matcha

It’s a trend that has recently taken the world by storm. From bloggers to celebrities, matcha has been plastered across social media for the last couple of years. Take a look at our guide to the tea and why you should consider swapping out you Japanese soft drinks for it!

But what is matcha? The name comes from matsu ‘to rub’ and cha ‘tea’. In order to give you the nutritional equivalent of 10 cups of regularly brewed green tea, matcha is a finely ground powder of a specially processed version of the tea. Using whole green tea leaves, from the nutrient-rich Camellia sinensis plant, the tea goes through a special processing routine which involves being stored away from oxygen and light in order to develop the antioxidant properties.

It is through the processing routine that matcha allows itself to develop chlorophyll. Due to it being highly alkaline, it can help balance the PH levels in your blood. One of the benefits of high levels of concentrated chlorophyll is that it has good blood cleansing capabilities. Not only does chlorophyll also contain blood building nutrients, but it can protect other cells in the body against radiation.

Matcha has been used for its health benefits since the 9th century. Thanks to its various curing elements, matcha was used almost exclusively in China until the 12 century. When word got out about its health properties, Buddhist monks were the next group to use the plant. Realising its full potential, the cultivation of matcha has grown exponentially and is now used worldwide.

Full of vitamins and minerals, matcha is also rich in polyphenol compounds called catechins. These catechins include a compound called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which is linked to fighting cancer and viruses. EGCG has been proven to inhibit tumor growth in studies of stomach, lungs, liver, breast and colon cancer.

Other benefits of the EGCG compounds include weight loss. The promotion of weight loss is found through the cancer-fighting compound also preventing the growth of fat cells. People found that swapping out coffee, which can have an effect on your blood sugar levels, often leading to weight gain, caused noticeable weight loss within as little as three weeks.

Matcha green tea has been used for over a millennium by Buddhist monks as a way of relaxing. It has been proven that this calm state is thanks to the L-Theanine amino acid. Found almost exclusively in Camelia sinensis leaves, the effects of the amino acid are relaxing without sedation. It is the L-theanine that also helps counteract that caffeine in the tea so, because of this, you can find that it helps aid concentration, without any of the jittery side effects that normal tea would provide you with!

Although there is no cure for HIV, there are many ways to prevent it. The flavonoid of EGCG has been shown to be efficient in its prevention. In a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, it was shown that drinking a couple of cup of matcha green tea could reduce HIV binding to human cells by as much as 40% after a few hours.

So how do you know if you're drinking a matcha that will provide you with all of this goodness? A healthy matcha should have nothing added to it, so look for an organic certification. The best matcha comes from Japan, as their standards are stricter than you would find elsewhere. Nishio city in Aichi prefecture and Uji city in Kyoto are both considered to be the best places to cultivate matcha, so look out for powders that have come from this area.

Often, it can be found that the grittier matcha is of a lower grade. The same can be said for the colour and taste. The brighter the powder, the better quality the matcha generally is. As for the taste, if the matcha is bitter, it is normally due to the matcha lacking the L-theanine compounds, so the sweeter the natural taste the better!

Image: cyclonebill