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Matcha green tea offers amazing health benefits because of its unique, anti-cancerous properties and rarely sourced compounds.
It contains some of the only types of compounds that are able to pass through a human’s blood brain barrier.
This is why it has gained so much popularity within the last several years, as it’s become a super food for healing and nutrition.
However, many consumers may be over spending on matcha because of marketing tactics.
This article cuts through the hype to give you the straight facts on what science says about matcha green tea, its benefits and what to watch out for.
Unlike other teas, the entire leaf is used in the grinding process for matcha. It is also cultivated in very carefully controlled environments, which include periods of partial shading to produce a stronger concentration of nutrients.
The shading of tea leaves prior to harvest enhances the matcha’s processes of synthesis and accumulation of biologically active compounds.
These compounds include (but are not limited to): polyphenols, caffeine, phenolic acids, rutin, quercetin, four major vitamin b complexes, vitamin a, c, selenium, zinc, magnesium, chlorophyll, multiple types of catechins and more!
However, the most powerful ones of the bunch are a catechin called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and Theanine, of which are the most active and abundant and matcha is their highest condensed source.. This high antioxidant level is why matcha has a much higher antioxidant score than other super foods.
Since you consume the entire powdered leaf, one study found that matcha can contain 137 times more nutrients than a standard cup of steeped green tea. And, once matcha is dissolved in water, it produces 3 times more catechins than the loose-leaf form of green tea.
Did you know that matcha’s high concentration of EGCG could help fight and prevent cancer? One way it does this is by keeping tumors from developing new blood vessels.
This happens because EGCG helps to reduce inflammation, which can otherwise fuel and feed cancer cells.
Additionally, with the worldwide rise of bowel cancer in young adults, there’s growing interest in how EGCG might play a protective role.
Consuming significant amounts of EGCG could be a simple way to help reduce your chances of developing bowel cancer and even breast cancer!
EGCG does this by directly interfering with tumor growth factors, proteins that encourage cancer to expand.
On top of that, EGCG has been observed to induce apoptosis, which is a fancy term for making unhealthy cancer cells programmed to die off naturally, rather than continuing to multiply.
By taking matcha green tea as a supplement, it could offer an extra layer of protection by preventing those small growths in the bowel, known as adenomas, from returning.
This is a big deal because, for many people, these adenomas are the very things that could develop into colorectal cancers if they’re not stopped.
Beyond its other benefits, research into green tea supplements that have high concentration of EGCG, point to good news for gallbladder and bile duct cancers.
It has been found to actively stop the growth and multiplication of these particular cancer cells.
This suggests that taking EGCG could both help manage existing cases and potentially lower your risk of developing bile duct cancer in the future.
What’s really interesting is that EGCG also improves how well your body uses two key hormones: insulin (which deals with blood sugar) and leptin (which signals fullness and energy in the body).
EGCG helps reduce the amount of unhealthy fats in your blood, decreasing your risk of obesity related cancers.
Alongside EGCG, matcha’s high content of chlorophyll also has some amazing healing capabilities! Not only is chlorophyll, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, antimutagenic, antigenotoxic, it also has anti-cancer and anti-obesity properties, whilst protecting your body against endocrine disruptors.
Chlorophyll hunts down reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduces oxidative stress, which is known to be associated with endocrine disruption.
By reducing oxidative stress, chlorophyll helps to protect endocrine organs, such as the ovaries, testes, and thyroid gland by binding to and effectively removing certain endocrine disrupting chemicals from the body, acting as a great detoxifier.
Here’s another mind blowing fact; the EGCG and theanine in matcha, can cross your blood brain barrier (BBB).
This means it can protect your brain from damage caused by Amyloid β by preventing it from gathering and by reducing its production, thus helping to calm down inflammation in the brain and prevent brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
Theanine can also pass into your brain and is known to improve your mood.
Theanine works by calming and improving how your brain communicates, largely because it’s shaped similarly to glutamate, which is a key chemical that makes brain cells active.
The antioxidant function of matcha, through the effect of EGCG, is of utmost importance because the brain structure is particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress due to its higher content of unsaturated fatty acids in contrast to other tissues.
Therefore, ingestion of compounds with antioxidant activity like matcha can prevent cognitive impairment as a result of oxidative damage. Matcha can also protect the integrity of the antioxidant systems in the liver, brain, and blood, preventing cognitive damage.
The main reason matcha feels different from coffee is because when theanine combines with the caffeine in matcha, it puts you in a much longer lasting state of “calm alertness” and sustains the energy boost throughout your day.
You get the focus from caffeine, but the theanine smooths out the big spike and fast drop off of caffeine in coffee.
The effects of a cup of coffee can usually last a couple of hours while matcha can last up to 6 hours, that’s 3 times as much and without the jittery side effects.
This is because the caffeine in matcha releases slowly and steadily over time, whereas coffee gives you an instant boost followed by a fast crash.
Interesting studies on students have also shown that drinking matcha can reduce anxiety and lower physical stress markers and others have found it can improve attention and reaction time. So in our opinion, matcha does have many benefits over coffee.
One of the most interesting new areas of research is how matcha affects your gut microbiome and the trillions of tiny organisms living in your digestive system.
Because you consume the whole tea leaf, you also get dietary fiber that feeds good gut bacteria. A human study found that people who drank matcha for two weeks saw significant positive changes in their gut bacteria. Specifically, they had more of a bacteria called Coprococcus and less of Fusobacterium, which is often linked to gut problems.
Animal studies show similar results, suggesting the connection to gut health might be one of the ways matcha provides its other benefits.
Matcha is also gaining a reputation as a great tool for exercise.
Caffeine ingestion was also linked to enhanced muscle strength and power, specifically in the upper body muscles. A study looked at men who drank a matcha beverage twice a day while doing resistance training.
The results were impressive: the matcha group saw a greater increase in leg strength and built more muscle mass compared to the group that didn’t have matcha.
The matcha drinkers also reported feeling less tired and had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Matcha is healthy, but there are a couple of important things to be aware of.
Green teas contain tannin, which can bind onto iron and interfere with absorption.
Luckily, it seems to have more of an effect on plant based iron absorbtion and not so much from meats, but If you are deficient in iron, it is advised to avoid excessive consumption, especially if you are a woman.
It has also been discovered that having green tea after 2-3 hours of having an iron rich meal, can let your body absorb more of the iron before the green tea kicks in.
Tea plants can absorb heavy metals like lead from the soil. Since you eat the whole leaf with matcha, you also consume anything that was in it.
This is a real concern because cheaply sourced matcha from unverified suppliers in China or non Japanese regions, could be prone to containing substances like sugar or starch and introduce toxins. Even worse, they could contain allergens that are not declared, such as soy, wheat or milk.
To stay safe, buy matcha from trusted brands that are open about where their tea comes from and do third-party lab testing to check for heavy metals.
Popular western brands are using the term “ceremonial grade” to try to imply that this matcha is the highest quality, but don’t fall for their higher price tags.
In Japan, where the highest quality matcha is made, there is no such term as ‘ceremonial grade’. Brands use this term strategically to make you think that their matcha is of the highest quality in reference to traditional Japanese Tea Ceremonies, where matcha and other green teas are often served. Hence, where the term ‘Ceremonial Grade’ came from.
The truth is that you can only find out the real quality of matcha by knowing the manufacturer, where it was produced and how it was produced.
It is also a matter of personal taste & preference. So do your own research, make sure it comes directly from Japan and try out different varieties to determine which ones you would actually like to spend your money on.
It is recommended to have 1 cup of matcha tea a day and you can add anywhere from half a tea spoon to two tea spoons per cup. This depends on the strength and personal taste preferences.
Just make sure to drink matcha after a meal and not on an empty stomach to get its proper, smooth & energising effect.
If you made it this far, congratulations! You now know more about matcha than most people, just remember the limitations of science, although we have tried to reference all our findings, consult with your doctor before applying any of this information to your daily life as this is all for general informational purposes only.
