Is matcha better than coffee? All you need to know
Coffee and matcha each provide fast energy with antioxidants, and they also boost the body and brain in different ways. Matcha has a long history in Japan, but this ancient green tea has an increasingly bright future around the world.
The global matcha market was valued at $ 1.63 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $ 2.69 billion by 2026.
Although coffee offers great health benefits, matcha is gentler on the health of the body, and here is a closer look at these two popular drinks.
What is coffee?
Coffee is a stimulant substance spread around the world, it is an energizing tool for all types of people around the planet, and it is made from coffee beans, and it is native to tropical Asia and Africa.
Coffee is now grown in dozens of countries around the world, but Brazil alone is responsible for about a third of global production, and it includes other coffee-producing countries (Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia).
Coffee plants produce fruits (known as cherries) that turn red when ripe, at which point they are harvested and processed, and the resulting dry beans can then be ground to make coffee.
There are many ways to brew coffee - including boiling, steeping, dripping, and pressing - all of which can lead to noticeably different drinks.
What is matcha?
Like all true teas, matcha tea begins as leaves and buds on Camellia sinensis, a plant native to China, and tea seeds from China were first introduced to Japan in the eighth century.
Once established in Japan, matcha has acquired a life of its own, and has become a major component of the country's tea culture. There are some major differences between matcha and green tea including how it is grown, processed and brewed.
Matcha plants are planted under partial shade for a few weeks before harvest, which causes the leaves to produce more chlorophyll with less sunlight, and this additional chlorophyll results in dark green, more delicious leaves that are full of some nutrients.
These leaves are harvested by hand early in the growing season and then carefully processed and milled into a fine, bright green powder, unlike a typical tea infusion - where the tea leaves are soaked in hot water but removed before drinking - matcha powder is usually mixed in water.
The health benefits of coffee
Coffee is an important food source of antioxidants for many people, and research indicates that drinking coffee reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, liver disease, Parkinson's disease, and death from various causes.
Drinking coffee is generally safe within usual levels of coffee intake according to a research review by the British Medical Journal BMJ in 2017, at a rate of 3 to 4 cups per day, and is more likely to be beneficial than harmful.
An 8-ounce cup of coffee typically contains 80 to 100 milligrams of caffeine, or 40 milligrams per 100 milligrams of coffee.
Caffeine has been linked to improved mood and cognitive function, but it is also linked to anxiety, and high doses can worsen anxiety, sleep disturbances and enhance acid reflux.
Among the health benefits of coffee are:
1. Coffee boosts your physical performance
Have a cup of black coffee about an hour before exercise and your performance can improve by 11-12%. Caffeine increases levels of adrenaline in the blood, a hormone in the body that helps prepare for physical exertion.
2. Weight loss
Coffee contains magnesium and potassium, which helps the human body use insulin, regulate blood sugar levels and reduce the craving for sugary foods and snacks.
3. Burn fat
Caffeine helps fat cells break down body fats and use them as training fuel.
4. Focus and stay alert
Moderate caffeine intake of between 1-6 cups a day helps you focus and improve mental alertness.
5. Reduces the risk of death
Studies have shown that the risk of early death in coffee drinkers is 25% lower than that of those who do not drink coffee.
6. Reducing the risk of cancer
One study showed that coffee may reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men by 20%, and endometrial cancer in women by 25%, and the people in the test group drank 4 cups of coffee per day, and caffeine may also prevent the development of basal cell carcinoma, which is the most common type. Most common skin cancer.
7. Reducing the risk of stroke
Reasonable consumption of coffee (2-4 cups per day) is associated with a reduced risk of stroke.
8. Reducing the risk of developing Parkinson's disease
Studies have shown that drinking coffee regularly reduces the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by 25%, and there is evidence that coffee causes activity in the part of the brain affected by Parkinson's disease.
9. Protect the body
Coffee contains a lot of antioxidants that act as little fighters who fight and protect the body from free radicals.
10. Reducing the risk of developing diabetes
Caffeine reduces your insulin sensitivity and impairs glucose tolerance, thus reducing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
11. Protect the mind
Higher levels of caffeine in the blood reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, and it also reduces the risk of developing dementia.
12. Fight depression and suicide
Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system and boosts the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, which elevates your mood, and drinking 2 cups of coffee daily prevents the risk of suicide by 50%.
The health benefits of matcha
Green tea is rich in micronutrients known as polyphenols, including a group of antioxidants called antioxidants.
Evidence suggests that drinking matcha daily, along with a regular healthy diet, may be associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and all-cause deaths in adults, researchers reported in a 2020 research review in Advances in Nutrition.
The main polyphenols in green tea have been linked to anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, according to a 2018 review of research in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, and it has also been linked to preventing or breaking up atherosclerosis, which is a build-up of fat in the walls of arteries.
While matcha is a type of green tea, the way it is grown and prepared gives it a big nourishment boost compared to other green teas, and matcha is not only made from leaves grown in the shade with more chlorophyll, but we eat a lot more of these leaves than We do with steeped tea.
Among the health benefits of matcha include:
1. Energy saving
The combination of caffeine and l-theanine in matcha green tea provides a steady and extended boost of energy without the anxieties or side effects you may have previously experienced with coffee and energy drinks.
Matcha is a 100% green tea powder that gives you clean energy without the excessive caffeine, sugar content and unknown chemicals, but don't worry one scoop of matcha still contains the same caffeine as one shot of espresso, but the energy lasts for hours.
2- Strengthening the immune system
Matcha green tea strengthens the immune system and limits the invasion and growth of viruses and bacteria in the body, as it contains antioxidants of the antioxidant called EGCg, which is effective in fighting and protecting the body from various bacterial and viral infections.
The antioxidant EGCg binds to the cells of the body and prevents the growth of many pathogenic microorganisms including influenza A virus, hepatitis virus, herpes virus, and the bacteria that cause sore throats.
3. Improves heart health
Matcha green tea can help protect you from heart attacks or strokes, and matcha green tea powder may be more effective than infused green tea when it comes to heart health, and including matcha green tea in your regular diet may reduce the risk of a stroke or stroke. Major heart attack.
4. Oral health
90% of bad breath comes from the bacterial cavities in your mouth, and this is where bacteria break down sulfur-containing amino acids into foul-smelling volatile sulfur compounds.
Green tea has shown the greatest reduction in gas concentration and the antibacterial properties of green tea keep bacteria and your breath at bay.
5. Get rid of toxins
Matcha leaves are grown in the shade, and when they darken the plants, they produce additional chlorophyll in their leaves.
Green tea has powerful detoxifying properties and in some cases it has the ability to naturally eliminate heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions.
6. Protecting the liver
The liver is vital to health and plays a major role in flushing toxins, metabolizing drugs and processing nutrients, and some studies have found that matcha may help protect liver health, as green tea extract significantly reduced levels of liver enzymes, and high levels of these enzymes are a sign of Liver damage.
7. Enhances brain function
Some research shows that several components of matcha can help boost brain function. One study in 23 people looked at how people perform a series of tasks designed to measure brain performance.
Some participants drank matcha tea containing 4 grams of matcha, while the control group consumed a placebo tea, and researchers found that matcha tea caused improved attention, reaction time and memory, compared to a placebo.
Additionally, matcha contains a more concentrated amount of caffeine than green tea, as it contains 35 mg of caffeine per half a teaspoon (about 1 gram) of matcha powder.
8. Weight loss
Green tea is well-known for its ability to promote weight loss, and studies have indicated that it may help speed up the metabolism to increase energy consumption and increase fat burning.
One small study also showed that consuming green tea extract during moderate exercise increased fat burning by 17%, and another study in 14 people found that taking a supplement containing green tea extract significantly boosted energy expenditure over 24 hours compared to treatment. Placebo.
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