Sometimes you just have to sit down and enjoy warm (or ice!) Tea. It’s soothing and delicious, and if you’re drinking green tea, you’re getting a lot of health benefits. But there is one green tea that stands out from everything else: Matcha!
Green tea is generally associated with a reduced age-related muscle loss and a reduced risk of heart disease, but certain variations of tea also have their own health benefits. Matcha is finely crushed into powder, which is attracting attention because it can make it difficult to grasp the fat in the stomach.
Studies have demonstrated yet another health benefit of this powerful powder. Nutrients In 2020, daily intake of matcha will help prevent cognitive decline in older women. Researchers sought to find out how this green tea affected cognitive function and impulsivity in the elderly. They divided the group of adults over the age of 60 without dementia into a matcha drinking group and a placebo group. Both of them took a cognitive and physical function test at the beginning of the study and the same test 12 weeks later.
Upon completion of the study, researchers learned that matcha significantly improved participants’ memory and recall test performance, but did not significantly alter impulsivity. Importantly, the results showed that people who consumed matcha worked very well in the language-related part of the test. Considering age, years of education, BMI, and gender, the results did not change.
As the authors of the study state, green tea is rich in polyphenols and amino acids, both of which are important for improving brain health. Polyphenols have been shown to protect neurons from the harm caused by neurotoxins, but amino acids are essential for brain function. Matcha in particular is an excellent source of polyphenols. In fact, researchers say that matcha of the same serving size contains twice as much polyphenols as other forms of green tea. Matcha also contains large amounts of vitamin K and lutein, which have been shown in previous studies to slow down cognitive decline. Other important nutrients in this powerful green powder that fights memory loss are polyphenols and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a type of catechin, L-theanine, the main amino acid in tea, and an essential vitamin in the central nervous system. A system that contains vitamin K.
Caffeine also plays an important role in improving mental abilities. As researchers have said, caffeine is a well-tested, naturally occurring drug that can enhance a person’s attention and brain performance. In addition, it enhances the effect of theanine.
But how many of the benefits of matcha can be due to caffeine and how many of the benefits can be due to other nutrients in the powder?According to another study published in Nutrients In 2021, a single dose of caffeine will improve attention in slightly stressful situations such as testing. Matcha, on the other hand, can improve both attention and work capacity when taken continuously during a task, suggesting that matcha nutrients play an important role in cognitive performance.
So why is this research so important? As pointed out by the author in 2020 Nutrients Studies show that dementia is the second leading cause of death in people over the age of 70, and the risk of developing dementia increases with age. Dementia is also often a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease, which gradually leads to cognitive decline and severe memory loss. Since no pharmacological treatment has yet been found to prevent people with normal cognitive function from developing dementia, it is important to study lifestyle changes that may improve symptoms. For example, testing the benefits of matcha and other nutrients may help develop dietary guidelines for the most vulnerable elderly with respect to cognitive decline.
If you’re thinking of adding matcha a day, start with half a teaspoon of green powder in 8 ounces of boiling water. This is the serving size used in the study. In addition to cold water and milk, you can also make delicious and refreshing summer beer. Matcha can seriously improve daytime memory recall, no matter how you plan to incorporate it into your diet.
