One relatively common illness is the common cold. Symptoms vary from person to person, such as a runny nose, a cough that won't stop, or a sore throat, but you don't want to catch a cold. As an effective preventive method, drinking sencha (sencha green tea) has been proven to prevent colds, and matcha, also a member of the green tea family, should also be used to a great extent.
Matcha contains about 10 grams of catechins per 100 grams. Unlike sencha, the nutrients in matcha leaves can be drunk or eaten as they are, so it is possible to take in the catechins in their entirety.
These catechins have a strong bactericidal effect, especially against influenza viruses. Therefore, if you drink sencha or matcha tea on a daily basis or include it in your diet, you are less likely to catch a cold or flu, and if you do catch it, you can expect the symptoms to be less severe. In terms of efficient intake of catechins, matcha tea is very useful in preventing colds.
In addition, the 60 mg of vitamin C contained in every 100 g of matcha tea is effective in boosting the immune system. The antioxidant effect of vitamin C eliminates the active oxygen produced in the body. This leads to the regeneration of cells and tissues and recovery from fatigue, which naturally helps boost immunity.
Like vitamin C, vitamin A in matcha also has antioxidant properties. Matcha tea contains 2,400ug (retinol activity equivalent) of vitamin A per 100g. Because vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, it does not dissolve in the leached liquid portion, or drinking portion, of sencha, which is brewed in a teapot, so you cannot expect to consume much of it, but by drinking matcha and using it in cooking, you can also get antioxidant vitamin A into your body. However, drinking matcha and using it in cooking can help the body to take in antioxidant vitamin A.
Matcha tea is also effective in preventing colds, as the double effect of vitamin C and vitamin A's antioxidant effect is expected to boost the immune system and protect the body.