Matcha Boosts Antiviral Immune Function
If you give healthcare workers green tea compounds, they come down with the flu about three times less often than those given placebo. Even just gargling the tea appears to help reduce influenza infection by 7 to 8-fold! Matcha boosts the immune system by increasing gamma delta T cells, a type of immune cell that acts as “a first-line defense against infection.” “Subjects who drank six cups of tea per day had up to a 15-fold increase in [infection-fighting] interferon…production in as little as one week”.
Pro tip: steep it cold and take with citrus to amplify its effects! This boosts the antioxidant capacity and heat may denature some of the beneficial catechins. Elixir Shots Zenergy matcha is cold steeped and the grapefruit optimizes the pH to pull out more of the amazing phytonutrients from this high quality tea!
Caution: please avoid green tea supplements (pills). These are often from China contaminated with lead and have been known to induce liver failure. Learn more here
Sources:
- Venditti, T. Bacchetti, L. Tiano, P. Carloni, L. Greci, and E. Damiani. Hot vs. cold water steeping of different teas: Do they affect antioxidant activity? Food Chem., 119(4):1597-1604, 2010.
- Matsumoto K, Yamada H, Takuma N, Niino H, Sagesaka YM. Effects of green tea catechins and theanine on preventing influenza infection among healthcare workers: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2011 Feb 21;11:15.
- Park M, Yamada H, Matsushita K, Kaji S, Goto T, Okada Y, Kosuge K, Kitagawa T. Green tea consumption is inversely associated with the incidence of influenza infection among schoolchildren in a tea plantation area of Japan. J Nutr. 2011 Oct;141(10):1862-70.
- Song JM, Lee KH, Seong BL. Antiviral effect of catechins in green tea on influenza virus. Antiviral Res. 2005 Nov;68(2):66-74.
- Rowe CA, Nantz MP, Bukowski JF, Percival SS. Specific formulation of Camellia sinensis prevents cold and flu symptoms and enhances gamma,delta T cell function: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Oct;26(5):445-52.
- Kamath AB, Wang L, Das H, Li L, Reinhold VN, Bukowski JF. Antigens in tea-beverage prime human Vgamma 2Vdelta 2 T cells in vitro and in vivo for memory and nonmemory antibacterial cytokine responses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 May 13;100(10):6009-14.