- Matcha affects mood thanks to L-theanine, which promotes calm and concentration.
- A paradoxical effect: both soothing and stimulating, without the jitters of coffee.
- Green tea lowers cortisol and may help reduce the risk of depression and dementia.
- L-theanine promotes alpha waves, associated with relaxation and attention.
- Best consumed in the morning or before physical exercise or meditation.
Mood is a specific feeling or state of mind a person experiences at a given moment.
This emotional state is therefore subject to various disruptions, and also varies depending on temperament or personality traits.
Although mood is an internal subjective state that can sometimes be difficult to tame, it can be changed through certain exercises and simple daily routines.
Among the tips for changing your mood, several studies reveal the effectiveness of physical exercise, music, or mindfulness meditation.
What's more, diet is thought to play an essential role in curbing our bad moods, and matcha could be a star ingredient.
We are what we eat
Anyone can experience mood disorders, and their causes are many.
One of the keys may lie in diet, directly linked to nutritional deficiencies, to the way we eat, to our hydration, and to age.
This is where matcha green tea comes in and can become a powerful ally for our daily well-being.
Indeed, researchers confirm the relaxing and revitalizing qualities of a cup of matcha green tea. It can improve mood, boost concentration, and perhaps even help prevent depression and dementia.
Matcha's intense color and fragrance lift the spirits, and several bioactive compounds, which act on metabolism, contribute to a state of well-being for several hours after consumption.
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Matcha has relaxing and revitalizing qualities
For centuries, many people around the world have attested to the relaxing and revitalizing qualities of tea.
The traditional calming effects of the Camellia sinensis plant have elevated this beverage, made from its leaves, to a role that goes far beyond simply quenching thirst.
Matcha green tea is drunk as an aid to meditation, to soothe the nerves, or simply to relax. But while the mental health benefits of the Camellia sinensis plant are known to tea drinkers, scientists are only just beginning to examine how tea exerts its effects on mood and cognition.
Researchers have discovered, for example, that drinking green tea lowers levels of the stress hormone, cortisol (a steroid hormone secreted by the brain). And evidence of long-term health benefits is also emerging. They have confirmed that drinking about half a cup of green tea a day (at least 100 ml) seems to reduce the risk of developing depression and dementia.
Scientists are also trying to identify the main active compounds that give matcha green tea its mental health benefits, and whether they work alone or in combination with other compounds present in the beverage.
The catechins in matcha green tea, antioxidants such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), account for up to 42% of the dry weight, and the amino acid l-theanine accounts for about 3%.
EGCG is believed to make people calmer and to improve memory and attention when consumed on its own.
L-theanine has a similar effect when consumed in combination with caffeine. Up to 5% of the dry weight of green tea is caffeine, known to improve mood, alertness, and cognition.
Note that the effect of matcha green tea on behavior is slightly paradoxical, as tea is soothing yet alerting at the same time. It is this paradox that makes Japanese matcha a flagship beverage.
Explorations of tea's effects on behavior and mental health are coming at a time when scientific interest is growing in the role of nutrition in mental health and preventive medicine.
Health professionals need more tools to combat anxiety, depression, and age-related cognitive decline. These conditions place an enormous burden on healthcare systems around the world, and treatment options are limited.
The idea that dietary agents such as matcha may perhaps help slow this decline could have enormous implications for preventive health.
Of course, caution is still needed regarding tea's benefits, and it is important not to overestimate the effects, especially in clinically depressed individuals.
Matcha helps you improve your well-being
Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, yet surprisingly little is known about its effects on human behavior.
Much of the available evidence comes from epidemiological studies, which generally show a positive effect on mood and cognitive function. For example, some studies report that people who regularly drink green tea are 21% less likely to develop depression over their lifetime than those who do not drink it.
Other epidemiological studies suggest that long-term habitual green tea consumption could reduce the risk of dementia. For example, a study of people over 55 in Singapore found that those who drank at least one cup of tea per week performed better on certain tasks involving information processing and memory.
Obviously, epidemiological studies have limitations, and other lifestyle or genetic factors could be responsible for the positive results.
However, a great deal of research shows that something unique is happening with matcha green tea. Note, however, that one possible confounding factor is that the process of preparing and drinking tea may have an effect, rather than the tea itself.
Also, tea is frequently consumed in conditions conducive to relaxation, which may themselves account for the apparent benefits. The matcha green tea ritual may therefore improve our mood through its bioactive effects as well as through the way it is consumed.
Other research also shows that matcha green tea helps people recover more quickly from a stressful task, by lowering salivary levels of the stress hormone (cortisol).
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Amid the studies on tea, some researchers are also looking at which compounds give green tea its beneficial properties.
Thus, tests of the main components (l-theanine and EGCG) suggest that they contribute both on their own and in combination with caffeine.
Researchers reported that volunteers who consumed a nutrient drink containing 200 mg of l-theanine (about 8 cups of regular green tea) had lower cortisol levels. Participants reported feeling more relaxed after performing stress-inducing tasks than those who consumed a placebo.
The researchers also used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to assess changes in brain activity associated with the drink. Naturally more anxious people showed an increase in low-frequency brain waves. These alpha brain waves are associated with relaxation and a lack of active cognitive processing.
According to them, l-theanine improves memory and reaction time when consumed with caffeine. They point out that the effect is greater than that of caffeine or l-theanine alone.
The contrasting effects of l-theanine reveal a relaxed state of mind. A meditative state is reached, allowing for greater concentration and attention.
Also, this compound could act on brain chemistry in several ways. L-theanine is thought to cross the blood-brain barrier, and could therefore directly benefit brain plasticity, the process by which the brain regenerates itself.
The other major constituent of matcha green tea, EGCG, also seems to contribute to the beverage's mental health benefits. Studies show that EGCG increases brain activity across all frequency bands (alpha waves, theta waves, beta waves), which are associated with quiet wakefulness and increased concentration and attention.
Finally, even though research into the mental health benefits of tea is intensifying and still needs more evidence, there is no reason not to encourage healthy people to drink organic matcha green tea to improve their mood and concentration. Remember that the best time to enjoy it would be in the morning or before physical exercise or meditation.
In conclusion, drinking matcha green tea can provide a complement, or even an alternative, to the stimulating effects of physical exercise or meditation. Matcha can therefore become a go-to ingredient in your daily routine of good habits.
=> Discover our matcha tea collection.
Written by: Jimmy Braun - December 2019
Sources
Kim, J. & Kim, J. Green Tea, Coffee, and Caffeine Consumption Are Inversely Associated with Self-Report Lifetime Depression in the Korean Population. Nutrients 10, 1201 (2018). https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/9/1201
Feng, L., Gwee, X., Kua, E. H. & Ng, T. P. J. Cognitive function and tea consumption in community dwelling older Chinese in Singapore. Nutr. Health Aging 14, 433–438 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs12603-010-0095-9
Steptoe, A. et al. The effects of tea on psychophysiological stress responsivity and post-stress recovery: a randomised double-blind trial. Psychopharmacology 190, 81–89 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00213-006-0573-2
White, D. J. et al. Anti-Stress, Behavioural and Magnetoencephalography Effects of an l-Theanine-Based Nutrient Drink: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial. Nutrients 8, 53 (2016). https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/8/1/53
Haskell, C. F. et al. The effects of l-theanine, caffeine and their combination on cognition and mood. Biol. Psychol. 77, 113–122 (2008). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051107001573
J. Braun. Notre humeur dépend de la nourriture que nous mangeons. Blog Nutrition Santé (2017). https://blognutritionsante.com/2017/12/14/humeur-nutrition/
Lina Begdache, Maher Chaar, Nasim Sabounchi, Hamed Kianmehr. Assessment of dietary factors, dietary practices and exercise on mental distress in young adults versus matured adults: A cross-sectional study. Nutritional Neuroscience (2019). https://doi.org/10.1080/1028415X.2017.1411875
