What is the first thing that comes in your mind when you think of green tea? Antioxidants, perhaps? Well, there is no denying the fact that green tea abounds in health-enhancing polyphenols.
However, you should also know that green tea has vitamins in it too. Aren’t you astounded? Yes, your soothing cup of tea has a lot more to offer than you think!
Vitamins are essential nutrients and extremely important for the proper functioning of the body. The deficiency of any vitamin can lead to a number of diseases.
It is hence important to ensure that you eat nutrient-rich food.
Vitamins in Green Tea
Most of the vitamins cannot be synthesized by your body and therefore, you have to get them from your food. Green tea is one plant-based beverage that has essential vitamins in it.
Making green tea a regular part of your diet is a really good step towards healthy living.
It has vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin C, and vitamin E. In addition to that it has zinc, chromium, and manganese in it.
1. Beta-carotene
Beta-carotene is pro-vitamin A. Your liver will convert it into vitamin A in the body which is essential for your vision and skin. Beta-carotene is present in good quantity in matcha.
You will be amazed to know that matcha contains 5 times the beta carotene present in carrots.
This is indeed exciting because throughout your life you have been told that you need to eat carrots to keep your eyes healthy. However, you can now definitely think of shifting your focus to green tea as well.
2. Vitamin B2
Vitamin B2 is required for many bodily processes along with energy metabolism. Sencha and matcha are great sources of the vitamin.
They will give you more vitamin B2 than you can get from spinach and parsley.
3. Vitamin C
It is well known that vitamin C is an antioxidant and therefore important for your well-being. Green tea will give you that too.
A 100 ml cup of sencha will provide you with 5 mg of vitamin C.
It will be better if you consume whole leaves which is possible with matcha. Also, vitamin C content is quite less in other tea varieties like black and oolong because of all the processing and fermentation they undergo.
Thus, it is better to stick to green tea to get your dose of vitamin C. Matcha is a better bet as you don’t discard anything.
4. Vitamin E
Vitamin E is also an important vitamin that is required in several functions of the body such as neurological and enzymatic.
This particular vitamin is a fat-soluble one and you won’t get it by steeping green tea leaves in hot water.
Again, it is matcha that will come to your rescue. You can even powder green tea by yourself and add it to hot water to get your vitamin E.
The Final Takeaway
Apart from being rich in antioxidants, green tea has vitamins that are essential for the right functioning of the body. You get vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin E from green tea.
Matcha is an even better option as you consume the leaves whole.
To conclude, green tea is a great beverage and can be added to your diet. However, you must bear in mind that you cannot expect magical results just by drinking green tea or matcha.
It is a support. Also, please don’t go overboard with the beverage just because it is healthy.