If you’ve been on the internet recently, you may have heard about matcha: the new tea craze from Japan. Matcha is said to be incredibly good for you, but, as we all know, just because something is healthy doesn’t mean you should be consuming it non-stop. This leads to the question – how much matcha per day should we drink for maximum health benefits?
This question can be answered by looking at the different aspects of matcha such as what it is, it’s health benefits, and its caffeine content.
What is Matcha?
Matcha is technically just a fancy name for “green tea powder” as it is made by crushing the green tea leaves to form a fluffy powder. The key difference between matcha and regular green tea is that green tea is the liquid you get from steeping the tea leaves in hot water, while with matcha powder you are consuming the actual leaves themselves.
This does not mean you can make your own matcha powder by grinding up green tea bags, unfortunately. When matcha powder is made the tea leaves are covered with shade cloths before harvest in order to develop flavour and texture, unlike normal green tea leaves.
The tea leaves are also hand picked, steamed a little to prevent fermentation, dried, and then aged in a cold storage space. Only after all these steps is it ground into matcha powder.
The Health Benefits
Matcha is known for being a healthy alternative to coffee, and for good reason. Matcha is antioxidant rich (it has 15 times the amount blueberries do), contains polyphenols, and is high in vitamin C and fiber.
Matcha can also be used to relieve stress due to the amino acid L-Theanine that it contains. This amino acid produces a state of relaxation and well-being. L-Theanine is present in all tea, however, matcha contains five times as much as black or green tea, making the matcha tea drinker five times as relaxed.
It also has many other amazing benefits such as anticancerous properties, a possible decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, and it causes a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Caffeine Content
The amount of caffeine you would find in one cup of matcha tea is about 70mg. In comparison, there is roughly 100mg of caffeine in one cup of coffee. Due to the consumption of the entire green tea leaf, the amount of caffeine in matcha is significantly higher than steeped green tea.
The amount of caffeine may even be high enough for you to replace your morning coffee with a cup of matcha tea instead.
How much matcha per day can you drink?
The amount of caffeine that should be consumed in one day by the average adult is 400mg. This means that about 5.5 cups of matcha per day is safe to drink. Five cups of matcha should be enough to keep you energized throughout your day. Caffeine tends to be addictive so drinking too much of it can lead to unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if you ever stop drinking it.
The main reason that many people drink matcha is for its health benefits (and because of its amazing taste) – drinking so much that you exceed your daily caffeine limit would be counterproductive.
Another reason not to go over the five cup limit is that matcha isn’t exactly cheap. The powder can sell for $35 just for 100g! Save your money and still get the health benefits by drinking within the daily limit.
A good rule of thumb is to stick to about 3 cups of matcha each day to make sure you aren’t overdoing it. This is to ensure you consume all of its benefits without approaching an unsafe amount. Keep in mind how much matcha per day is safe to drink the next time you enjoy this delicious beverage.