J funct foods: why do you always drink Matcha? Maybe it's to relieve anxiety!

July 27, 2019 / BIOON / - many countries have tea culture, Japanese Matcha is more and more popular in the world In Japan, Matcha has a long medicinal history It has been suspected that it has various beneficial effects on health, but there is relatively little scientific evidence to support this claim Now, a team of Japanese researchers at Kumamoto University found that eating Matcha powder or extract reduced anxiety in mice Its sedative effect seems to be due to the activation of dopamine D1 receptor and serotonin 5-HT1A receptor, both of which are closely related to anxiety behavior Matcha is a fine powder made from the new leaves of Chinese tea trees grown in the shade (90% shade) Tea (and food seasoning) is very popular all over the world In Japan, the historical medicinal value of Matcha includes helping people relax, preventing obesity and treating skin diseases Therefore, researchers try to determine its various beneficial effects Photo source: http://cn.bing.com "elevated plus maze" test is an elevated, elongated and narrow platform with two arms with walls, providing security for test objects (usually rats) It was used as a test of rodent anxiety, with the idea that animals experiencing higher anxiety would spend longer in safer fences Through this test, the researchers found that eating Matcha powder or Matcha extract reduced anxiety in mice In addition, when evaluating the anti anxiety activity of different extracts of Matcha, compared with the extract only extracted from hot water, the extract extracted from 80% ethanol has stronger anti anxiety activity In other words, the water-soluble component of Matcha has a stronger anti anxiety effect than the water-soluble component Behavioral pharmacology analysis further revealed that Matcha and Matcha extracts alleviate anxiety by activating dopamine D1 and serotonin 5-HT1A receptors "Although further epidemiological studies are needed, our results show that Matcha has been used as a drug for many years, and it may be beneficial to human body," said Dr Yuki kurauchi, research director We hope our research on Matcha can bring benefits to the health of the whole world "Reference: Yuki kurauchi et al, analytical activities of Matcha tea powder, extracts, and frames in mice: contribution of dopamine D1 receiver - and serotonin 5-HT1A receiver mediated mechanisms, Journal of functional foods (2019) Doi: 10.1016/j.jff.2019.05.046