Sumber : foodandwine.com, Andi Breitowich. 12 April 2025

You may wonder which beverage offers the most health benefits. Research in the Journal of Education Health and Sport suggests that matcha may take first place, thanks to its powerful ability to boost heart health, promote digestion, and support cognitive functions.

Matcha is a unique variety of green tea that has been a cornerstone of Japanese culture for centuries. Unlike traditional tea, where you steep and discard the leaves, matcha involves consuming the whole tea leaf, which is carefully shade-grown, harvested, steamed, dried, and stone-ground into a fine powder, says Angelo Falcone, MD, an integrative medicine physician and founder of Dignity Integrative Health and Wellness. Although matcha contains caffeine, recent research in PLOS One found that regular consumption improves sleep quality and reduces anxiety, unlike coffee and other caffeinated drinks.

Matcha has been proven to benefit multiple systems in the body, including gut health, cardiovascular health, and cognition. Here’s a breakdown:

1. Boosts cognitive function: “Matcha contains a unique combination of l-theanine and caffeine that creates what I call ‘calm alertness,’ or improved concentration and mental clarity without the jitters associated with coffee,” Falcone says.
2. Promotes cardiovascular health: Regular matcha consumption is linked to improved cholesterol profiles because it lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol while maintaining HDL (good) cholesterol, according to Falcone.
3. Improves gut health: Research suggests matcha improves gut health by promoting beneficial bacteria while inhibiting harmful pathogens.
4. Supports immunity: The high levels of chlorophyll and polyphenols in matcha support immunity and help combat oxidative stress (an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants that can lead to cell damage) linked to heart disease and other chronic illnesses, says Gowri Rocco, MD, a physician double-board certified in family medicine.