Fukamushi sencha health benefits get a lot of attention, and although the taste alone is enough reason to drink this tea, we thought we’d take a minute to explain why this tea can have a positive impact on your health. In this article, we are going to talk about what fukamushi sencha is, how it’s made and why you may want to start drinking it. Without further ado, let’s dive into the world of fukamushi sencha health benefits.
5 Fukamushi Sencha Health Benefits
Whenever people ask about the fukamushi sencha health benefits, or about the health benefits of any green tea for that matter, usually they are talking about weight loss and immune support. In this next section, we are going to briefly cover each one.
Fukamushi sencha offers several health benefits. It may aid in weight loss due to enhanced fat oxidation when combined with brisk walking. It also helps prevent flu by supporting the immune system with catechins.
Additionally, fukamushi sencha provides dietary fiber and a higher concentration of nutrients compared to regular sencha tea.
The manageable caffeine content of around 60mg per serving makes it a suitable choice, and there are no reported serious health side effects.
#1 Weight Loss
There is a 2018 study in which participants were told to drink green tea and walk briskly for 30 minutes. The green tea group was found to have enhanced fat oxidation during their walk when compared to the control or placebo group, which could lead to greater weight loss overall. If this studies finding are correct you can add weight loss to the list of fukamushi sencha health benefits.
#2 Flu Prevention
So now that we talked a bit about weight loss, let’s discuss the other fukamushi sencha health benefit people ask about, flu prevention. When people say that green tea can help with the cold and the flu, the reason comes down to the catechins in the tea. Catechins are the bitter compounds inside the tea leaf, and they are thought to help support the immune system.
This study compared two groups of healthcare workers. One group of health care workers was given a green tea catechin and theanine supplement and the other group was given a placebo.
The study found that the green tea supplement group was three times less likely to come down with the flu compared to the placebo group. This would suggest that flu prevention is another on the list of fukamushi sencha health benefits.
If you’re interested in learning about how the benefits of sencha compared to a long shaded tea like gyokuro, you can read this article on 👉 Gyokuro vs Sencha
#3 Dietary Fiber
One of the unique fukamushi sencha health benefits is dietary fiber. These small leaf particles end up in the final cup of tea, they float to the surface and then you consume them as you sip the tea. This means that you are not just consuming an infusion of the leaves, but also small pieces of the leaves themselves.
#4 Higher Concentration of Nutrients
As is the case with matcha, when you consume more of the tea leaf, you also consume more of the beneficial compounds contained within the leaf. You may not get quite as much of the health properties as with matcha, but you will get more compared to a normal sencha tea.
#5 The Caffeine of Fukamushi Sencha is Manageable
Fukamushi sencha can have around 60mg of caffeine per serving, so as long as you are only consuming a few cups of tea per day, you should fall comfortably under that limit. Besides that, it doesn’t appear that there are any serious fukamushi sencha health side effects.
If you’re interested in seeing which teas have the highest and lowest caffeine content, you can read this article on the 👉 8 Lowest Caffeine Teas from Lowest to Highest
How to Capitalize on the fukamushi sencha health benefits
If you want to take advantage of the fukamushi sencha health benefits, you’ll have to start preparing your own at home. Fukamushi sencha is a tea you won’t find being served at many tea shops, so the best way is to learn how to prepare your own, and get some of the good stuff online.
If you’re interested in trying some fukamushi sencha for yourself, we recommend the Murasaki Sencha from Mr. Kawaji. Mr. Kawaji is a talented farmer in Southern Japan, and he specializes in the production of deep steamed teas.
He produces his teas on a small farm in the countryside, without the use of pesticides or chemicals.
What is Fukamushi Sencha?
Fukamushi sencha or fukamushicha translates into deep steamed tea. To understand why the tea gets this name, we have to take a quick look at the production process of sencha tea.
Sencha teas, including deep steamed senchas, are made from the youngest sprouts of the tea plant. These top sprouts are the smoothest and sweetest in flavor and the highest in nutrients. To gather these leaves, a group of farmers will get together in the early springtime to take part in the tea harvest.
Processing the Tea Leaves
Once the leaves have been harvested, they will begin to oxidize and eventually they will turn into a black tea. In order to lock in the natural grassy and vegetal flavors of the tea and produce a green tea, the farmer needs to apply heat almost immediately after the leaves are harvested.
In Japan, the tea leaves are put through a steam bath in order to deactivate the enzymes that cause oxidation. This also imparts a seaweedy or steamed vegetable flavor onto the leaves. Normally, the leaves are steamed for between 60-90 seconds, but in the case of fukamushi sencha, the tea leaves are steamed for 90-200 seconds. This is how the tea gets its name.
If you are interested in learning more about the production process of green tea, you can read this article on👉 How Tea is Made
Why Fukamushi sencha is so green
In addition to fukamushi sencha health benefits, the tea also has benefits when it comes to color. You will be able to spot fukamushi sencha teas right away because of this vibrant, cloudy green color.
During the longer steaming process, the tea leaves are broken down and they become more brittle when they are finally dried out. This causes them to break more easily, and it’s why you’ll see tiny leaf particles inside fukamushi tea. Because the leaves have been broken down, and because they have these fine particles, more leaf material ends up in the cup and it’s why fukamushi sencha has this cloudy green color.
If you are interested in learning about why certain teas are green, yellow or brown you can read this article on 👉 Tea Colors
