Matcha green tea for weight loss: How to drink it

Matcha green tea is a special form of tea that offers many health benefits such as reducing stress, preventing cancer, lowering cholesterol, and stimulating weight loss.

This type of tea differs from conventional green tea in its cultivation; harvesting and drying that allow it to triple the properties of this millenary drink three times.

It is originally from China, but its rise in the world is due to the fact that it is preferred by the Buddhist monks of Japan, to the point of becoming the main drink of the Japanese tea ceremony.

Today, many models, celebrities and personalities in the fitness world find matcha green tea an alternative to lose weight, combat aging, reduce appetite and burn fat.

See: Red Tea with cardamom to lose weight

All this rage is due to the fact that this drink is three times more antioxidant than the original green tea, therefore its benefits are much more effective.

If you want to lose a few extra kilos and take advantage of this natural powder, we invite you to continue reading this article.

What is Match Green Tea?

Matcha green tea is a natural drink that has become very fashionable thanks to its multiple health benefits and its slimming properties.

This tea differs from conventional green tea in its cultivation, harvesting and drying. What changes? Weeks before the harvest takes place, the harvesters cover the tea plants from sunlight for at least 30 days to increase their chlorophyll and, therefore, its amino acid content. After harvesting, the leaves are dried and the stems and veins are removed for grinding, resulting in a very fine powder that is known as matcha.

Green powder is the substance used to prepare a matcha green tea drink and, unlike conventional green tea, its taste is quite bitter, which is why it is necessary to combine it with sweetener or fruits to improve its flavor.

A glass of matcha green tea is equivalent in benefits to 10 glasses of conventional green tea, since most of the properties of the tea remain in the leaves of the infusion, while the matcha grinds the leaf to offer a powder rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

Benefits of matcha green tea for weight loss

These are the same benefits of conventional green tea multiplied by 3! In the same way, we detail them below.

Antioxidant

It is the most antioxidant of all types of tea, even more so than white tea. This property favors the body by reversing the effects of free radicals in the body, responsible for cellular aging and the formation of certain types of cancer, such as breast and colon cancer.

The antioxidant effect of this millenary drink also helps to fight skin aging, preventing the appearance of wrinkles, blemishes and sagging. Most importantly, every antioxidant drink has the power to speed up metabolism to help process food more easily during digestion. Antioxidants are great for lowering cholesterol and blood sugar.

Purifying

This is perhaps one of the best properties of matcha green tea for weight loss. And it is that this drink is rich in fiber, a substance that offers a powerful cleansing power that allows the liver and gastrointestinal tract to detoxify fat, toxins and other wastes.

Due to its fiber content, this type of powdered tea also helps to combat constipation and reduce inflammation of the abdomen. Taking this drink improves hormonal disorders due to its high amount of chlorophyll.

Catechin Antioxidants

Catechins are a very powerful type of antioxidant to stimulate weight loss because it accelerates the burning fat and strengthens the immune system better than any other type of substance.

Matcha also increases energy in people, making them perform much more when training and doing any type of physical activity. Combining its consumption with the practice of exercises offers a truly successful result in the weight loss process.

Less Stress

Unlike coffee, the caffeine offered by matcha green tea is combined with the relaxing properties of L-theanine, a substance that is capable of reversing the nervous effects of caffeine in the body.

For this reason, caffeine in powdered or matcha green tea it slowly assimilated, preventing sugar and cortisol levels from altering, as does caffeine in coffee. Decreasing stress on the adrenal glands promotes relaxation, inhibits wakefulness, and increases concentration.

Reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease

Due to its power to help reduce high levels of cholesterol and blood glucose, this drink reduces the risk of death from heart disease. This property is due to its high content of catechins that prevent the oxidation of LDL, deflate blood vessels and prevent the formation of blood clots.

How to drink matcha green tea to lose weight

Matcha green tea is a drink that contains high concentrations of plant compounds and heavy metals that, when consumed in excess, can be harmful to health.

Likewise, many organisms react to the consumption of this drink presenting adverse symptoms such as diarrhea and nausea. Therefore, if you want to take advantage of all the benefits of matcha tea to lose weight, it is advisable to consume a maximum of 2 cups a day. Ideally, take a cup on an empty stomach and another between meals.

Matcha green tea can be found in health food stores, herbalists, and stores specializing in weight loss products. It is important that when you buy it, you make sure that the powder is 100% organic matcha green tea and that it is not mixed with other ingredients, as this could decrease its effect and not get the expected results.

The success of this tea in weight loss is associated with a balanced diet and physical activity. Matcha green tea is an aid to fight anxiety to eat and stimulate fat loss; it is not a miracle drink that helps you lose weight just by drinking it.

How to prepare matcha green tea to lose weight

There are two styles for preparing matcha tea: traditional style and modern style.

The traditional way of preparing matcha tea is the one developed in the Japanese tea ceremony, in which we place the matcha in a large bowl called chawan to which we add hot water and emulsify it with a bamboo whisk called chasen until it is mixture acquires a homogeneous consistency and a foam layer forms on its surface.

The modern style of preparing matcha tea is to simply mix it briskly with water or add it to the blender when making a healthy smoothie or vigorously mix it with water or juices in a pot.

Other Uses of Matcha Tea

In Japan, matcha tea is used in many gastronomy recipes: matcha noodles, matcha chocolates, matcha cakes, ice cream, soups and all kinds of sweet and savory foods are consumed.

Supermarkets have sections complete with all kinds of foods made with matcha. Also on the street there are hot and cold drink vending machines where matcha is a great protagonist.

International chains such as Starbucks have adapted certain products to local tastes offering green tea shakes and lattes.

In the West, this powdered green tea has also gained great prominence. Today we can see it as an ingredient in smoothies, cakes, custards, cookies, ice creams and many other delicious products.

Matcha Tea Side Effects

Although matcha tea is generally considered safe, it can have mild to severe side effects in some people.

Drinking matcha tea in excess can lead to rapid heartbeat, anxiety, headache, upset stomach, severe diarrhea, and vomiting. If you have doubts, you should always consult your doctor before taking it.

As always, excess can be harmful, and drinking very high doses of green tea is probably not safe.

In some people, matcha green tea can cause an upset stomach and constipation. Green tea appears to reduce the absorption of iron from food.

In any case, although we know that green tea contains between 8 and 16 grams of theine, much less than the amount of caffeine in coffee; pregnant and lactating women should take special care as it affects the size of the fetus at birth and gestational age.

Depending on the place of origin and the cultivation method, it may have traces of chemical compounds from fertilizers and insecticides. Better as long as it is of ecological or organic origin.

Green Tea Vs Matcha Tea

Starting with its production, matcha tea is prepared by completely crushing the entire leaf of the plant and removing impurities. This is how you get that perfect green powder that we all know.

Instead, conventional green tea is acquired by infusing hot water with fragments of the leaf. Being the common tea that we all know and that can now be found in many products such as masks, treatments, serums and facial cleansers, thanks to all its wonderful assets.

As for the taste, it is easy to distinguish them. The pure infusions have a more bitter taste and do not produce foam. Unlike pure matcha, which has a completely sweet taste, that is why it is used a lot in gastronomy. Even the texture of matcha can be much creamier and smoother than that of conventional green tea.

On the other hand, the two are excellent allies in terms of skin treatments; they purify it and rid the body of toxins. They are excellent to supplement with a balanced diet, they will help to accelerate metabolism and suppress hunger, as well as being excellent fortifiers of vitamins and antioxidants, ideal for the skin and the prevention of expression lines.

Check the comparative table between green tea and matcha tea: