Matcha
Why matcha is anti-inflammatory
Matcha is anti-inflammatory, and what sets it apart is not a special compound. It is the dose. Matcha is green tea leaf dried and stone-ground into powder, so you whisk it into water and drink the leaf itself. Brewed tea only gives you what the hot water managed to pull out before the leaves went in the bin. Nothing gets left behind in a bowl of matcha.
The growing is different too. For the last few weeks before picking, the bushes are covered and kept out of direct sun. A shaded leaf makes more chlorophyll and more theanine, which is why good matcha is almost neon green and tastes savoury instead of sharp. It also makes slightly fewer of the antioxidants that green tea is famous for. Drinking the whole leaf more than covers that difference.
Matcha scores 1 out of 10 on the inflammation scale, at the anti-inflammatory end of it. Two things come with the territory. You are eating the leaf, so you also get whatever it drew up from the soil, and tea plants take up lead readily. Here it is worth paying for a brand that tests, in a way it is not for leaves you steep and throw away. The caffeine is real too. A proper bowl sits between a brewed green tea and a coffee.
Then there is what most people actually order. A cafe matcha latte is usually a pre-sweetened blend loosened with milk and syrup, and the sugar undoes more than the powder can fix. What scores 1 is powder, hot water and a whisk.
Matcha on the AIP diet
Matcha is allowed in every phase of the Autoimmune Protocol, elimination included. It is a leaf, and AIP keeps leaf teas. The thing to watch is the dose rather than the status: you swallow the whole leaf, so a bowl of matcha carries more caffeine than a cup of steeped tea. If sleep is already fragile, keep it to the morning and one bowl.
Benefits
- You drink the ground leaf, so you get far more catechins per cup than steeped tea
- Shade growing loads the leaf with theanine, which takes the edge off the caffeine
- No sugar and no calories in the powder itself
- Allowed in every phase of the AIP protocol, unlike coffee
Watch out for
- You eat the leaf, so lead from the soil comes with it; buy a brand that tests
- More caffeine per serving than steeped green tea
- High in vitamin K, which matters if you take blood thinners
- Cafe lattes and pre-sweetened blends are mostly sugar and milk
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Frequently asked
Is matcha inflammatory?
No. Matcha is one of the strongest anti-inflammatory drinks you can make at home, because you consume the ground leaf rather than an infusion of it, and the plant antioxidants come along with it. What turns a matcha inflammatory is the cafe version: a sweetened blend with milk and syrup is a dessert with matcha in it.
Is matcha better than green tea?
For antioxidants per cup, yes, and by a wide margin. That is a question of dose, not of a different plant. Brewed green tea is the same leaf and costs a fraction of the price, so it is the better everyday habit if matcha puts you off.
How much matcha a day?
One or two bowls, in the morning. More than that is mostly extra caffeine, and matcha carries more of it per serving than steeped tea does.
Is matcha allowed on the AIP diet?
Yes, in every phase. The line AIP draws is around seeds, which is what sends coffee out, and matcha is a leaf. The caveat is the caffeine rather than the protocol: one bowl, early.
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