The Top Health Benefits of Matcha
What is Matcha?
Matcha is a powdered green tea that is made from shade-grown tea leaves. It has a bright green pigment and a rich, umami flavor. Umami means “delicious savory taste” in Japanese. Matcha may be good for your weight, health, and other aspects as a result of its high antioxidants.
Matcha is very popular in health stores and coffee shops, and is given as: matcha shots, lattes, teas, along desserts! Studies have revealed that matcha has an abundance of health benefits such as protecting the liver, promoting heart health, and even helping with weight loss.
Some ways you can incorporate matcha into your meals are making it into a smoothie, adding it to cereal or oatmeal, whisking it into a hot tea or latte, or adding it into baked goods such as cupcakes, cookies, or brownies!
The Advantages of Ingesting Matcha
First of all, matcha is high in Antioxidants: Antioxidants help balance out harmful free radicals, which are compounds that cause chronic disease or damage cells. There was also a study in which mice were given matcha and it reduced damage caused by free radicals and enhanced antioxidant activity.
Next, matcha may Help Protect the Liver: In 2015, there was a review and 15 studies showed that drinking matcha was associated with a lower risk of liver diseases. The liver is essential to our health as it helps flush out toxins, metabolize drugs, and process nutrients.
In addition, it could promote heart health: Green tea has similar nutrients to Matcha, but studies have shown that consuming it has helped protect people against heart disease. Consuming green tea has decreased the risk of cardiovascular disease when compared with coffee. There are also studies that show it might help decrease the risk of high blood pressure.
Lastly, consuming green tea helps individuals lose weight: Green tea has often been a feature used as a weight loss supplement and has very similar nutrients to matcha. In 2020, a review came to the conclusion that taking up to 500 mg a day of green tea for 12 weeks can reduce BMI together with exercise and having a good diet.
Potential Effects
Having too much matcha can increase one’s heart rate, and increase exposure to contaminants like pesticides, and other chemicals found in the soil where it was grown. Therefore, it's best to consume matcha within reasonable limits.
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