Did Popeye eat spinach… OR MATCHA!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Green tea is known for its benefits to muscle and metabolic health. Matcha, a powdered form of green tea, packs even more nutrients than traditional loose-leaf green tea.
Could that give your workout a bulk-up boost?
Enter Mizuho Shigeta and team at Kyoto Prefectural University.
Splitting thirty-six participants into two workout groups, researchers gave the matcha group three grams of matcha daily. The other group received a tea flavored drink placebo.
Results? After twelve weeks, the matcha group showed a significant increase in skeletal muscle mass and a decrease in body fat percentage compared to the placebo.
Arm day? No sweat, matcha lifts!
Reference: Shigeta, M., Wataru Aoi, Morita, C., Soga, K., Inoue, R., Fukushima, Y., Kobayashi, Y., & Masashi Kuwahata. (2023). Matcha green tea beverage moderates fatigue and supports resistance training-induced adaptation. Nutrition Journal, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-023-00859-4