Our favourite tea has a huge range of benefits and one of the best is helping you lose weight.
Yep, you read that correctly – matcha can help you shed the extra kilos you’ve wanted to shift for ages.
How does matcha help weight loss?
Matcha features compounds called EGCG and these are known to make your metabolism function faster, which in turn helps you to lose weight.
Matcha Compared to Green Tea
Green tea is made up of leaves that are dried, chopped and then steeped in a bag, while matcha is a powder made solely from plants.
Because matcha isn’t steeped, it retains a higher content of nutrients than green tea. In fact, matcha has three times the quantity of ECGC than green tea – meaning its health benefits are greater.
Health experts suggest drinking between one to three cups of matcha a day if you want to see its weight loss effects. But if you’re worried the matcha energy dose will keep you up at night, just stop sipping by mid-afternoon.
Matcha Compared to Coffee
When we consume coffee in the morning, it can play haywire with our blood sugar levels. This unfortunately leads to unwanted and unintended weight gain. Because matcha is full of antioxidants like catechins, it doesn’t have this negative effect.
(Photo by @begin_anywhere)
In fact, a study carried out by scientists showed rats who were injected with EGCG lost 21% of their body weight over the space of a week. Results like this have us reaching for our matcha tins…
Stop the Sugar Cravings
We’ve all felt the 3 o’clock slump. You’re waiting for the clock to roll around to 5pm so you can leave work; you’ve eaten lunch and yet you’re feeling peckish.
It’s in these moments that we’re vulnerable. We reach for chocolate or a packet of chips. But why not have a mug of matcha instead?
(Matcha Strawberry Smoothie - Photo by @ninalovesummer)
Matcha can help with sugar cravings and is much better for you than junk food. Matcha starves off hunger and banishes the cravings for those extra calories. So the next time 3 o’clock rolls around, put the kettle on instead of heading to the vending machine.
Say Goodbye to Obesity
Researchers conducted a study a few years back where they fed two groups of Japanese men different quantities of catechins, one of the antioxidants found in matcha. The first group they gave 690mg of catechins and the second just 22mg.
Three months later, the researchers checked back in with the groups and found the body mass, weight and BMI of the group who’d consumed more catechins was ‘significantly lower’ than the other group.
The result of this research allowed the scientists to conclude that matcha assists with weight loss and prevents diseases like obesity.
Sheesh, that’s an impressive claim!
But the researchers also found the EGCG content in matcha can help stop new fat cells from growing. So not only does the tea help you shed weight, it also prevents you from putting it back on again!
Detox with Matcha
(Photo by @ew_zeta)
Studies published in other journals have shown matcha’s benefits on the liver and kidneys, as the drink works at cleaning your organs. We’ve all heard of a juice cleanse but how about incorporating matcha into the mix the next time you want to detox and drop a few kilos?
Matcha as Part of a Balanced Diet
But don’t expect to get away with having a sugary doughnut with your matcha and still expecting lose weight. Nor eating matcha Kit Kats and believing you’re eating healthily.
Matcha is just one part of a well-balanced diet – and you’ll need to combine it with a healthy lifestyle to truly see results.
