Matcha and muscle adaptation to resistance training
What it found
In two small trials in young untrained men, those who drank matcha green tea while doing resistance training tended to gain more leg strength and muscle mass than those who drank a placebo.
The matcha group also reported less fatigue early on and had lower levels of a stress hormone in saliva.
What they found
Studies in people
Leg strength, 8 weeks
After 8 weeks of training, the increase in maximum leg press strength tended to be larger in the matcha group than in the placebo group. Both groups got stronger with training.
Fatigue after exercise
In the matcha group, subjective fatigue after exercise at 1 week of training was lower than in the placebo group.
Muscle mass, 12 weeks
After 12 weeks of training, the change in skeletal muscle mass was larger in the matcha group than in the placebo group.
Salivary cortisol
The change in salivary cortisol secretion rate was lower in the matcha group than in the placebo group after 12 weeks.
Gut bacteria changes
The abundance of five genera of gut bacteria changed after matcha intake. The change in Ruminococcus, Butyricimonas and Oscillospira was positively correlated with the change in maximum leg strength.
Visual function
There were no significant differences between groups in kinetic visual acuity, dynamic visual acuity or ocular motor skills.
What the authors conclude
“Daily intake of matcha green tea beverages may help in muscle adaptation to training, with modulations in stress and fatigue responses and microbiota composition.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that daily intake of matcha green tea beverages may help in muscle adaptation to training, with modulations in stress and fatigue responses and microbiota composition.
- They state that compounds in matcha can moderate exercise-induced stress and fatigue responses, which may promote recovery after exercise and training-induced adaptation.
- They advise that further studies should examine the detailed mechanism of action of matcha and the significance of microbiota modulation.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see whether matcha green tea, which contains antioxidants, amino acids and dietary fiber, could help muscles adapt to resistance training. They noted that human intervention studies on foods and muscle adaptation were limited.
They ran two randomized placebo-controlled trials in healthy, untrained young men. In trial 1, 17 men trained twice a week for 8 weeks; in trial 2, 19 men trained twice a week for 12 weeks. The matcha groups drank a beverage with 1.5 g matcha green tea powder twice a day, while the placebo groups drank a tea-flavored beverage without matcha.
What it can’t tell you
- The trials were small and lasted only 8 or 12 weeks, so the results may not apply to other groups or longer periods.
- The study cannot show whether the changes in gut bacteria caused the improvements in muscle strength or mass.
- The findings are in young, healthy, untrained men, so they may not apply to women, older people or trained athletes.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Although the Matcha and Health Research Group was not involved in conducting experiments or data analysis, test samples were supplied from Nestlé Japan Ltd., a constituent organization of the Matcha and Health Research Group.
- Authors work at
- Kyoto Prefectural University, Japan; Setsunan University, Japan; Daito Bunka University, Japan
The paper
- Title
- Matcha green tea beverage moderates fatigue and supports resistance training-induced adaptation
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Shigeta M, Aoi W, Morita C, et al (2023). Matcha green tea beverage moderates fatigue and supports resistance training-induced adaptation. Nutrition journal. doi:10.1186/s12937-023-00859-4Free full textPubMed 37403052DOI
Summary written 29 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error