Matcha tea and adaptogenic mushrooms are well-loved by wellness experts for touting significant health benefits. Fans argue that mixing them together into a delicious tea creates even more magic. Mushroom matcha tea could be your new favorite health hack.
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Mushroom matcha tea is made by blending matcha tea powder with medicinal (non-psychedelic) mushroom powder for a nutty and earthy-tasting drink.
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Matcha tea is a Japanese green tea with powerful health benefits.
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Adaptogenic mushrooms are mushrooms that directly support your body’s response to stress and offer a host of other powerful health benefits.
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Mixing mushroom powder with matcha tea is a potent way to biohack your health, offering impressive nootropic powers, meaning it improves your cognitive function.
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Blending the two for boosted energy, immunity, focus, and mental wellness is easy.
What is mushroom matcha tea?
Mushroom matcha tea is a nutty and earthy-tasting drink made by blending Japanese ceremonial matcha tea with adaptogen mushroom powder.
According to Britannica, a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk returned home from China with tea seeds in the 1100s. As the story goes, he started “the way of tea,” a practice devoted to flawless tea preparation. This perfection reminds drinkers of beauty in a harsh world.
Authentic matcha tea is grown according to strict rules in Japan. After harvest, the tea leaves are ground into a fine powder. Matcha powder is whisked in water with a bamboo brush to create the tea. Steeping and whisking the powder creates a frothy, bright green liquid one drinks straight or with cream, spices, and sweetener.
The benefits of matcha tea
Experts and health practitioners have touted the benefits of green tea for decades. Matcha tea is a type of green tea that offers the same benefits with higher caffeine and antioxidant levels.
Matcha tea offers up to ten times the antioxidant levels of other green teas and up to twice the amount of caffeine. Depending on how you brew it, tea containing two grams of matcha offers 37.8–88.8 mg of caffeine. The average 8-ounce cup of coffee has 100 mg of caffeine, while typical green tea contains 30–50 mg of caffeine.
Primarily because of its high levels of antioxidants, studies show that matcha tea may offer these health benefits:
- Increased energy without crash
- Boosted cancer prevention
- Increased longevity
- Better cellular health and energy
- Enhanced brain function
- Reduced anxiety
- Greater heart health
- Stimulated weight loss
- Heightened liver protection
- Improved depression
Stress-fighting non-psychedelic effect
Some mushrooms offer adaptogenic benefits, which means they directly support your body’s ability to adapt to stress and avoid the damage it causes.
By definition, adaptogens are plants that directly affect your hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which manages your hormonal response to stressful events. The HPA axis ramps up a response to stress and then calms it down when the stressor subsides.
Robust research has linked chronic stress to a long list of inflammatory diseases. As a result, a growing number of people consume adaptogenic mushrooms, sometimes called functional mushrooms, to manage stress.
But mushrooms do much more for you than support stress. Authors of a 2018 review of the health benefits of mushrooms state, “They are considered as the unmatched source of healthy foods and drugs.”
The benefits of adaptogenic mushrooms
According to research, functional mushrooms can empower your health in these ways:
- Boosted cellular energy and immune system
- Fortified cancer prevention
- Enhanced mental focus and clarity
- Detoxified liver
- Improved sleep and jet lag
- Reduced adrenal fatigue
- Improved diabetes
- Increased wellness support for cancer patients
Fortunately, adaptogen mushrooms are largely safe and simple to use.
Eight mushrooms to mix with matcha tea
Many mushroom matcha enthusiasts say the tea's instant benefits include focus, calm alertness, and energy, helping you power through a long, stressful day.
You can purchase mushroom powder for individual mushrooms or as a blend of several different kinds.
According to experts, here are the best nootropic and functional mushrooms to mix with matcha tea:
| Mushroom | Benefits |
| Cordyceps | For natural energy. |
| Lion’s mane | For focus, memory, and neuron regeneration. |
| Reishi | For micronutrients and immune-enhancing power. |
| Shiitake | For eight amino acids and reduced inflammation. |
| Turkey tail | For prebiotic fiber and healthy digestion. |
| King trumpet | For antioxidants, vitamin B3, and cardiovascular and brain function. |
| Chaga | For physical endurance, reduced inflammation, and cancer prevention. |
How to make mushroom matcha tea
Mushroom matcha tea is easy to make at home.
- First, always aim to buy high-quality, bright green Japanese matcha to reap the most health benefits.
- Mix warm water, matcha tea powder, and any functional mushroom powder into warm water for do-it-yourself mushroom matcha.
For the quickest method of making mushroom matcha tea, consider buying an all-in-one product containing a mix of the powders to blend in water, milk, or milk alternatives.
Whether you buy an all-in-one mix or separate powders, most companies print recommended amounts on their packaging. Often you can drink these mixes a few times a day.
However, as with any new dietary supplement, read the company’s recommendations fully, check your medications for possible interactions, and discuss with a trusted healthcare practitioner. Keeping a diary of your physical and mental responses to the tea is also an excellent way to monitor the safety and efficacy of supplements.
Boost the flavor
Add your favorite cream, sweetener, and spices like ginger and cinnamon to boost the flavor of mushroom matcha tea. You can create DIY mushroom matcha recipes using online matcha tea latte and moon milk recipes as a springboard to create your own blends.
To brew your tea the traditional Japanese way, here’s one method you can follow:
- Heat water in a kettle until just before it boils.
- Add 1 teaspoon each of matcha and mushroom powder.
- Add 2 ounces of nearly boiled water.
- Whisk the water and powder briskly with a bamboo brush or tea whisk for 1–2 minutes, until it looks frothy with tiny bubbles.
- Add 3–4 ounces of the remaining hot water.
- Drink and remember that beauty abounds despite our harsh world.
Enjoy experimenting and reaping the incredible mushroom matcha magic!
- Britannica. Matcha Tea.
- Molecules. Health Benefits and Chemical Composition of Matcha Green Tea: A Review.
- 3 Biotech. Medicinal mushroom: boon for therapeutic applications.
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