They say the best defense is a good offense. (Remember those modifiable risk factors in A Fighting Chance?) I’m taking that approach to dementia and whatever else is lurking down the road by taking some baby steps. Today, we’re talking green tea, and specifically matcha—the powder from grinding whole green tea leaves—which has some mighty health benefits for the brain. They are summed up in this article on Brain Health Kitchen (some of it is behind a worthy paywall) and elsewhere. You can find a good free overview on aarp.org and solid treatises on Love and Lemons and Lexi’s Clean Kitchen.
The magic of matcha lies in its high concentration of polyphenols, known for their powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Ground matcha, because you are drinking the whole tea leaf, delivers a concentrated dose of the good stuff. There are twice as many polyphenols in a cup of matcha tea vs steeped green tea, which is why BHK calls drinking matcha tea “the most efficient way to flood the brain with polyphenols.”
I promised these Monday missives would be short and sweet, so here are the key takeaways and how/why I am choking it down daily (see “how it tastes” below).
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