For some, it’s an acquired taste; for others, it’s part-beverage, part-fashion statement.
But one thing Japan’s matcha is probably not seen as is a remedy for sneezing and hay fever.
In what could be good news for those who dread the onset of pollen season, that is what a team of Hiroshima University scientists in Japan believe could be the case, following tests suggesting that matcha powder “could reduce the need to sneeze in people with nasal allergies”.
The researchers said that there were already hints that green tea and matcha, with their high levels of biologically active compounds, including antioxidants and amino acids, could be of use against rhinitis.
“Its use is linked to a range of health benefits, such as improved heart and brain function, and reduced inflammation,” the team said of the powder, which is made by grinding tea leaves.
In a recently published paper in npj Science of Food, part of the Nature family of science journals, the scientists explained that mice engineered to experience hay fever symptoms were given matcha tea two to three times a week for more than five weeks.
The mice were also given an additional dose 30 minutes before exposure to an allergen that would trigger allergic rhinitis symptoms.
“Matcha potentially alleviates allergic rhinitis symptoms,” the researchers said in the paper, describing the effect as a “direct down-regulation of the sneezing reflex”.
“The goal is an evidence-backed, food-based option that complements standard care for allergic rhinitis symptoms,” said study corresponding author Prof Dr Osamu Kaminuma of the university’s Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine.
The researchers called for more work to be done to establish “whether these effects also occur in humans”. – dpa
