Health Benefits of Matcha

Matcha has grown and grown in popularity in recent years. If you go to coffee shops you will no doubt at least have seen it on the menus more and more even if you haven’t tried it. This is mostly because it is supposed to have a host of health benefits as well as weight loss aiding properties. So what are the health benefits of matcha and can it really help you lose weight?

Packed Full of Antioxidants

Matcha is high in substances that act as antioxidants such as catechins and flavonoids. Antioxidants remove bad molecules from the body and reduce oxidative stress. They also reduce inflammation and have an antimicrobial effect.

Improve Cardiovascular Health

Matcha is packed full of micronutrients, including one called ECGC which has positive health effects. These properties include anti diabetes, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-atherosclerosis, anti-cardiac hypertrophy and anti-myocardial infarction. Mactha basically supports healthy functioning of the cardiovascular system reducing risk factors such as having a heart attack.

Fights Cancer

A lot of the compounds found in matcha (and green tea) have shown links to cancer fighting properties. Particular links have found reduced risks of stomach and gastric cancers. Catechins and gallic acid (found in matcha) have even been used in conjunction with chemotherapy treatments.

Improves the Health of your skin

Matcha has properties that promote skin regeneration, wound healing or treatment of certain epithelial conditions such as aphthous ulcers, psoriasis, rosacea and actinic keratosis.

Weight Loss Aid

Here’s the one everyone has been waiting for! Studies show that consuming matcha increases energy expenditure and fat oxidation. As well as reducing lipogenesis and fat absorption. So as a result it MAY have a slight positive effect on weight loss.

But to be clear the effect is minimal and making this change alone is not going to realistically or substantially change the amount/speed of your weight loss. You should be consuming matcha for the other health benefits cited above and if you get a slight weight loss boost as a result then all the better.

How Should I Consume It?

The basic answer is however you like. If I’m being totally honest I’m not a massive fan of the flavour. But a lot of people love it. So personally I don’t particularly want to make a tea/drink out of it. Similarly I don’t really want to add it to my food. Neither the flavour nor the green tinge it gives everything is my personal ‘cup of tea.’ (Pun intended).

But that doesn’t mean you can’t/shouldn’t do that. You can buy it in tea bag form if you like. Or in powdered form so you can mix it into whatever you want yourself. The reality is it’s the health benefits you want from it. So I literally mix it with water (or sometimes with water and protein powder), mix it up and swallow it down. It’s not unpleasant and I don’t see the need to complicate it any more than that.

Matcha Latte

Like a lot of things, it’s important not to assume that everything with matcha in it is healthy just because matcha itself is healthy. A matcha latte bought from a coffee shop still has about 250 calories in it, due to the added milk, cream, sugar etc. Of course you can make it yourself for a fraction of that.

Word of Caution

Despite all the benefits it does contain quite a hit of caffeine. So if you are trying to limit your caffeine intake this may not be for you. Similarly if you already drink a few cups of tea/coffee a day you may want to limit your other caffeine intake to stop it getting too high overall. And it’s definitely best to consume it in the morning so you get the energy boosting benefits of it, without the risk of interfering with your sleep.

Conclusion – Health Benefits of Matcha

There is a lot of research showing great health benefits from consuming matcha, so it’s well worth including in your diet. But if you are expecting some weight loss revelation from it, sorry, but you are going to need to think again!