Enhancing Endurance: The Powerful Benefits of Matcha Tea for Athletes

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m a triathlete who is addicted to matcha tea. My affinity for the vibrant green tea developed rather quickly. If you live or work in the Manasquan, NJ area, you may be familiar with the quaint café Batch. These days, I’m not a huge coffee drinker unless it’s a shot of espresso. But I do love a cup of tea, especially while getting through the New Jersey winter – which feels exceptionally long this year.

This season, I made my way over to Batch and decided to try something different. Mulling over the list of specialty drinks, I landed on the Coconut Matcha. And the rest is history.

I lightly say that I’m addicted, but in all honesty, I do wake up craving a cup; after a long run in the cold, it’s been my favorite treat; after a swim, same deal; midday pick-me-up…you get the idea. I’m all in for matcha.

With my newfound love for this tea, I was curious about the benefits for endurance athletes. It feels like a guilty treat with the touch of honey and steamed milk, compared to my cup of plain green tea. But I was pleasantly surprised to learn that matcha is actually a more potent elixir.

While I’m not exactly expecting matcha to play a role in my performance on race day, a healthy and nourished body always performs better than the alternative.

What is matcha?

Matcha is a type of green tea in powdered form. It differentiates itself from your typical bagged tea leaves in the way that it is produced. Both green tea and matcha come from the camellia sinensis plant. However, to produce matcha, the plants are shaded from the sunlight for a few weeks before harvest. This process increases chlorophyll levels in the leaves, enhancing the color and boosting health benefits. After harvesting, the leaves are steamed to halt fermentation, dried, and stone-ground into a fine powder.

Matcha is known for its rich, umami flavor. Tea drinkers are drawn to it not just for its unique taste. It has also gained popularity for its potential health benefits. It’s rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Matcha is commonly used in various culinary applications, including beverages, desserts, and savory dishes.

Benefits of matcha

I absolutely love knowing a sweet treat has perks beyond making my taste buds happy. If you are a green loose leaf tea drinker and appreciate its benefits, drink up! Matcha shares many of them. And due to its growing, harvesting, and preparation process, certain compounds that benefit your health may be boosted. This might make it the best concentrated source of the following: caffeine, theanine, chlorophyll, and antioxidant catechins.

Of those mentioned, many of the tea’s benefits can be attributed to the active antioxidants it contains. Based on this, the benefits of matcha may include:

Improved memory and cognitive function
Reduced oxidative stress
Fighting off inflammation
Reduced photoaging
Improved markers of metabolic health
Strengthened blood vessels in the heart
Reduced factors of tumor growth in the gut

What are my takeaways as an endurance athlete?

It’s safe to say that I have gone down the rabbit hole of all things matcha and how it may impact endurance athletes. I am also now on autoship for it. Regardless of the advantages to incorporating the tea into my daily routine, I enjoy the drink. Did you ever have a drink that just gives you a feeling? Calm, happy, satisfied. Matcha does that for me.

I want to break down the above mentioned benefits. Let’s take a look at how this translates to what we put our bodies through, and how we recover and perform. Please keep in mind, the amount of matcha you need to drink to reap its benefits can vary depending on individual factors such as your metabolism, overall health, and specific health goals. However, generally speaking, consuming about 1 to 2 teaspoons of matcha powder per day is considered a typical serving size for most people to experience its potential health benefits.

Improved memory and cognitive function

Unrecognizable cyclists riding bikes on road during race

While my initial reaction was, hmmm this is important in general, but how does it translate to triathlon? When you sit and think about all the things that go on come race day, your memory and cognitive function are huge! What’s your race strategy? Will you fuel every 5 miles or 10 miles on the bike? How much water have you consumed? Did you have a pace plan established for your run? What’s the course layout? Where are the aid stations?

Additionally, endurance sports can be mentally demanding when you are digging deep to push through discomfort, fatigue or challenging race conditions. Enhanced cognitive function may help you maintain focus, concentration, and mental toughness throughout the race.

Once the race is over, you’ll want to reflect on the experience. What worked well? What should you improve upon? Enhanced memory and cognitive function support the learning process, helping athletes absorb new information, refine their skills, and adapt their training approaches to optimize performance outcomes.

Benefits of reduced oxidative stress

Oxidative stress occurs when there’s an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the body’s ability to neutralize them with antioxidants. ROS, such as free radicals and peroxides, can damage cells, proteins, and DNA, contributing to various health issues. Chronic oxidative stress is linked to conditions like inflammation, aging, and diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders.

As triathletes, we take part in activities that can create this imbalance. Prolonged intense exercise can exceed the body’s antioxidant capacity, resulting in oxidative stress. I’m confident many of us spend hours a week training outside, exposed to road traffic and other environmental pollutants. A diet high in processed foods and low in antioxidant-rich foods like fruits and veggies may have a negative impact on oxidative stress. Lastly, as we age, our bodies may become less efficient at neutralizing ROS, leading to oxidative stress.

Reduced oxidative stress can have several positive effects on endurance athletes such as improved recovery, enhanced performance, increased endurance, lower risk of injury and illness, delayed fatigue, and optimized adaptations to increased physiological demands.

Fighting off inflammation

Managing inflammation is essential for many things. It assists in optimizing recovery, preventing injuries, enhancing adaptation to training, supporting immune function, improving performance, and promoting overall health in endurance athletes. Incorporating strategies to reduce inflammation as part of your training and recovery regimen can help you achieve your full potential and maintain peak performance levels over time. If a cup of matcha can help tip the inflammation scales in our favor, I’m for it.

Reduced photoaging

Photoaging refers to premature aging of the skin caused by chronic exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or artificial sources such as tanning beds. Unlike chronological aging, which occurs naturally over time, photoaging accelerates the aging process and leads to visible signs of aging on the skin.

Packaging with Sunscreen on the Ground on the Beach

This was another benefit that at first had me questioning the relevance to endurance athletes. But hello, outdoor training. I will always opt to train outdoors if weather and safety permit. Of course I wear sunblock and hats to help protect my skin, but it’s great to have as many modes of protection as you can. I want my body to perform well for as long as possible, and I also want my skin to look healthy while I’m putting in the work!

The primary characteristics of photoaged skin include wrinkles and fine lines, uneven pigmentation, loss of elasticity, dryness and thinning of the skin, and increased risk of skin cancer. Preventing photoaging involves practicing sun-safe behaviors (broad-spectrum sunscreen, protective clothing, sunglasses, seeking shade during peak sun hours), and matcha tea can compliment this by supporting you from the inside out.

Improved biomarkers of metabolic health

Biomarkers of metabolic health are measurable indicators that reflect the status of metabolic processes within the body. Some common biomarkers include blood glucose levels, assessment of insulin resistance, lipid profile, body composition, inflammatory markers, liver enzymes, blood pressure, and markers of kidney function.

Optimizing markers of metabolic health is essential for endurance athletes to maximize performance, facilitate recovery, mitigate the risk of metabolic disorders, and promote long-term health and well-being. Think about glucose metabolism, utilization, and resynthesis – this is huge for prepping for training, during training, and recovery. Improving biomarkers may also lead to a healthier body composition, long term health, and well being.

Incorporating strategies such as regular exercise, balanced nutrition, adequate rest, and stress management can help you achieve and maintain optimal metabolic function, thereby supporting your athletic endeavors and overall quality of life.

Strengthened blood vessels of the heart

I’m sure we all can appreciate the benefit of a stronger heart. Strengthening the blood vessels of your heart can lead to improved oxygen delivery (translating to sustained performance for prolonged exercise), enhanced cardiac output (allowing your heart to pump more blood with each beat and effectively meet the increased oxygen demands of endurance training), increased endurance capacity, reduced risk of cardiovascular events, and faster recovery (facilitates the removal of metabolic waste from active muscles, while delivering fresh oxygenated blood and nutrients to support the repair and regeneration processes).

Reduced factors of tumor growth in the gut

Several factors can contribute to tumor growth in the gut, including genetic mutations, chronic inflammation, dietary factors, microbiota dysbiosis (imbalance of microbiota in the gut), environmental factors, lifestyle factors, age and genetics, and chronic infection.

Reducing these factors can indeed have relevance for endurance sports, particularly in terms of gastrointestinal (GI) health and your overall well-being. As triathletes, our training and racing can exert significant stress on the GI tract, leading to various issues collectively known as exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome (EIGS).

Keeping your gut healthy will help with your body’s immune function, nutrient absorption and utilization, and contribute to longer-term health and performance.

My Final Thoughts

I may have been a little extra in my journey down the rabbit hole on this one. At the end of the day, if you have been eyeing any variation of matcha on the café menu in town, give it a try! But heed this warning – always opt for the honey. Unless you prefer a tea that may land on the bitter side. I tried it once au natural and it’s 0 out of 10 – I do not recommend. If you’re concerned about the honey, I’m sure I can add another section on the benefits of honey when used in moderation, but I’ll spare you.

Try the matcha, add the honey, enjoy the benefits, and grab a side of gluten free pumpkin loaf if you’re visiting Batch on Main.

As always, remember to consult with a healthcare professional for personalized advice regarding your health and dietary choices.