Looking for a natural way to boost your body's collagen production and improve your overall skin health? High quality matcha tea is an amazing dietary source for essential nutrients and collagen protecting antioxidants. Drinking matcha daily may help increase your natural collagen levels— leading to softer, smoother, and firmer skin.

Matcha Green Tea For Anti-Aging Skin Care?

‘Matcha collagen peptides’ is the newest skincare trend, blending matcha and collagen into a single daily drink in order to boost “the healthy appearance of skin, and improve joint health.”

You may be wondering how green tea matcha and collagen work together, or why it’s reportedly recommended to combine them as skin and joint health nutrients.

Let’s learn about matcha and collagen peptides to see if you too should hop on the collagen matcha train.

We cover ‘the how’ behind collagen and matcha, and why green tea alone may be more functional to long term collagen health.

Collagen Peptides Matcha Powder: Nature's Best Collagen Powder? 

Since most people are familiar with matcha health benefits already, let’s first identify what is collagen. Collagen is the ‘glue’ that holds our bodies together, and collagen tissues range from bone, to cardiovascular structures, even to flexible ligaments.

All types of collagen are made from amino acids, just like other proteins in your body. Collagen is unique for the high concentration of glycine and proline aminos, and an individuals’ collagen health can be influenced by genetic and lifestyle factors (e.g. stress, diet).

Here’s two important questions before asking what role matcha has to play:

1. How is Collagen Absorbed in the Body?

Since the degradation of collagen has a role in skin wrinkles and joint problems, people are interested to make sure they are getting enough. But can your body really absorb it directly? 

The evidence is limited. It’s a misconception that collagen is always absorbed into the body to go where it’s needed most. Studies which measure food-derived collagen peptides in human blood levels are few, and don’t address any direct action, whether just as a source of nutrients. [1]

2. What are Collagen Vitamins for Hair, Skin, Joints?

Most studies evaluating elasticity and skin appearance following collagen supplementation do not address collagen alone, so it’s unclear whether outcomes rest on collagen or the coadministered nutrients. [2]

These include vitamin C, enzyme cofactors like hyaluronic acid, and protective dietary and antioxidant compounds which may modulate collagen damage.

The latter is where matcha and collagen production come together, and with the most definitive research behind it. [3-5]

Matcha Green Tea: Nature’s all-in-one Collagen Vitamin?

There’s nothing wrong with getting some extra nutrition from collagen protein, but for those matcha collagen blends, it’s the green tea which is most likely beneficial to skin and joint health.

The most compelling research includes a balanced diet to fuel natural collagen synthesis, while supplementing key antioxidants and collagen vitamins.

Here, in most cases matcha green tea can be a one-stop-shop.

Matcha Collagen Vitamins

Matcha is an excellent choice for vitamin C, and polyphenol antioxidants which can stop collagen from being damaged by oxidative stress.

The unique polyphenol EGCG in matcha, and the flavonoid rutin are also reported to halt glycation, a process similar to oxidative damage. [5-6]  

Glycation of Collagen: Is Matcha an Anti-glycation supplement?

Glycation happens when sugar binds to cells and causes uncontrolled damage. This is a common fate of collagen cells, so it’s critical to learn that matcha is a dietary source of collagen-specific antioxidants, including rutin, which are reported to directly interfere with this damaging process. [5-7]

In fact, matcha contains more rutin than any other beverage in the world, and ranks very high among total food sources. [5]

Furthermore, rutin and vitamin C work together to naturally boost collagen, so it’s worthwhile to acknowledge matcha tea as a reliable source of both. 

Bonus Fact: Matcha tea contains vitamin K, which is involved in regular elastin production, a protein that helps collagen cells maintain integrity. 

Collagen Protein and Collagen amino-acids

While the protein boost of matcha collagen peptide blends should not be ignored, the green tea powder itself contains many of those same collagen building block amino acids, including glycine and proline. 

Matcha Green Tea Antioxidants and Skin, Joint, Collagen Health

Besides working in many unsuspecting ways inside the body, the basics of matcha health benefits still apply. The potent and broad range of antioxidants in matcha tea carry regular protections against many stressors, most which are also associated with aging generally.

With a couple bowls of matcha tea everyday, and a balanced diet, you may be able to skip the fancy green tea collagen blends and stick with matcha on its own.

Pro Tip: Matcha may also help balance cortisol levels, which when elevated can damage collagen, having an indirect benefit on skin, hair, and joint health.

The Bottom Line – Matcha for Collagen, Green Tea Health Benefits

Premium matcha tea on its own is an excellent dietary source of collagen protecting antioxidants, as well as each of those essential nutrients (vitamins and aminos) required for natural collagen.

As science does not yet know if collagen peptides work as claimed, at least we can feel grounded in a daily matcha practice to boost all things health. Use matcha inside and outside the body, it even makes for a great facemask!

-Team Matcha Kari

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