During your pregnancy, it is extra important to pay attention to your food choices, for both yourself and your baby. In this article, we delve into the benefits of Matcha and offer advice on drinking Matcha during your pregnancy.
What is Matcha?
Matcha is a specific variety of green tea originating in Japan. It is made by grinding young green tea leaves into a fine, bright green powder. Unlike regular green tea, you drink powder completely. As a result, you get all the nutrients and antioxidants present in the tea leaves.
The benefits of Matcha
Matcha has many benefits. For example, it contains calcium, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and proteins that contribute to a healthy and strong immune system. Super nice for during your pregnancy! The ground green tea (which is what matcha is) contains L-theanine which has a calming effect and stimulates the production of serotonin and dopamine.
Because you drink the tea leaf when you drink matcha, you get 100% of the nutrients. Compared to drinking regular green tea, that's over 10x as much! There are also antioxidants found in matcha, these protect you from oxidation by free radicals, which are responsible for the aging process, tissue damage and cardiovascular damage, among other things.
In addition to protecting against free radicals, antioxidants (in the right amount) do the following:
- boosting the immune system
- provide more focus
- Keep your heart and blood vessels in good condition
- work stress relieving
- reduce severe headaches and migraines
- Keep brain cells in good and healthy condition
- counteract the aging process
Advice Matcha during pregnancy
The short answer is: yes, you can drink matcha during pregnancy. The concern is mainly in the caffeine contained in matcha. It is generally recommended to limit your caffeine intake to no more than 200mg per day. There is a maximum of 45mg of caffeine in 1 gram of Matcha, well below 200. You use about 1 gram for one cup of Matcha. We recommend taking no more than two cups of Matcha per day.
Ideal time for a tasty Matcha
Because there is a minimal amount of caffeine in Matcha, we recommend drinking it in the morning or early afternoon. This helps give you energy for the day without disrupting your sleep at night. Plus, you immediately get a nice boost of antioxidants at the start of the day!
So with Matcha during your pregnancy, it is especially important to take a maximum of 1-2 cups per day. Depending on whether you already take in caffeine through other means. In any case, Matcha is packed with healthy nutrients! So if you have to choose between coffee and Matcha, we would know! ;)