Are Tea and Esports a Perfect Match? New Habit Supporting Concentration and Mental Performance
When absorbed in gaming, don’t you experience concentration lapses or physical and mental exhaustion? While energy drinks and coffee were traditionally standard, recently tea is attracting attention as gamers’ new companion.
Caffeine and theanine contained in tea represent an ideal combination enhancing concentration while promoting relaxation. Moreover, with zero sugar and zero calories, you can drink confidently during matches. Overseas, commercialized as “gaming matcha,” it’s spreading among esports teams and streamers.
This article explains clearly:
- Why tea suits esports
- Scientifically proven concentration enhancement effects
- Recommended tea styles for gamers
- Latest “tea × gaming” overseas trends
Why not start clean and smart gaming drink habits from today?
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Why “Tea” for Esports
While energy drinks and coffee are standard in gaming scenes, actually survey results show tea is more suitable for long-duration play. In Review Co., Ltd.’s questionnaire, tea achieved solid first place (25.3%) for “beverages consumed during gaming.” Refreshing taste and minimal body burden are evaluated, with gamers choosing tea increasing alongside rising health consciousness. Characteristics including caffeine quantity, absorption speed, relaxation effects, and zero calories strongly support stabilizing esports player performance.
Caffeine’s Gentle Awakening Effect
Coffee and energy drink caffeine rapidly raises blood concentration, reportedly easily causing elevated heart rate and hand tremors. Conversely, tea’s caffeine binds with polyphenols, featuring characteristic gradual absorption. This prevents “caffeine crashes (sudden concentration decline),” enabling maintaining stable concentrated state for extended periods. Particularly matcha, while containing caffeine equivalent to one coffee cup, achieves softer awakening through balance with theanine.
Relaxation Effect Through Theanine
Tea’s unique amino acid “L-theanine” has been research-confirmed to act on brain waves, increasing alpha waves. Alpha waves represent brain waves indicating “calm, concentrated state,” possessing tension and anxiety-reducing effects. Particularly in pressure situations like tournaments and ranked matches, it’s optimal for calming the heart while enhancing judgment. Also useful for emotional control after lost matches and maintaining mental state during long streaming sessions.
Excellent for Hydration
Esports easily involves long sitting periods, with dehydration causing concentration decline and headaches. Green tea is zero sugar, zero calories, gentle on stomach and intestines, with minimal burden even when drinking freely as appeal. With abundant caffeine-free varieties including barley tea and hojicha, the advantage of easy selection for late-night play or when limiting caffeine proves strong. Simultaneously obtaining hydration and antioxidants represents tea’s unique characteristic.
Science of “Concentration and Calmness” Tea Provides
Caffeine + Theanine Synergistic Effect
Multiple studies report that simultaneously ingesting caffeine and theanine improves cognitive function, reaction speed, and attention. For example, Northumbria University (UK) research found caffeine + theanine intake groups showed faster reaction speed and lower error rates compared to caffeine-only intake groups.
While coffee tends to temporarily elevate tension and heart rate, tea’s theanine action facilitates easily entering “zone” state of relaxed concentration as characteristics. Useful for stable play in pressure situations like ranked matches and tournaments.
Fatigue Reduction Through Antioxidant Effects
Catechins abundantly contained in tea are known as powerful antioxidants. Suppressing active oxygen generated by long-duration play, reducing eye strain and mental fogginess. Furthermore, blood circulation improvement effects assist oxygen supply to brain, maintaining thinking sharpness. Useful for conditioning that doesn’t carry fatigue to next day even during consecutive tournament battles or long practice streams.
Sugar-Free Doesn’t Disrupt Concentration
Energy drinks and juices sometimes experience “blood sugar spikes”—after sugar rapidly raises blood sugar, sudden drops cause drowsiness and concentration decline. In that respect, tea is zero sugar. Without disrupting blood sugar levels, maintaining mentally sharp state for extended periods is possible. Furthermore, excellent hydration also prevents dehydration-caused concentration decline.
Recommended Tea Styles for Gamers
By devising tea types and drinking methods, it becomes “optimal drink” matching play time periods and purposes. Here we introduce recommended styles by scene for gamers.
Warm Sencha and Hojicha Support Nighttime Play
For late-night practice and post-tournament cooldown, warm sencha and hojicha are recommended. Theanine eases nervous excitement, with expected effects of releasing tension and guiding toward sleep-ready state. Particularly hojicha with moderate caffeine amounts provides reassurance for hydration immediately before sleep. Eases post-play fatigue, also connecting to next day’s performance maintenance.
Cold Matcha Latte for Daytime Concentration Boost
For daytime practice and long streaming sessions, cold matcha latte is concentration’s ally. Caffeine and theanine contained in matcha simultaneously promote awakening and relaxation, creating stable concentrated state. Adding milk improves satiety, thus also good for hunger management during play. Without causing caffeine crashes, maintains performance through practice’s latter half.
Powdered Green Tea Sticks Convenient Anywhere
At tournament venues and offline events, powdered green tea sticks prove convenient. Just putting in water or plastic bottle and shaking enables immediately supplementing caffeine + theanine. No tea residue means less garbage, with portability also appealing. Refreshing taste compared to sports drinks, gentle on stomach even during long matches as welcome point.
“Tea × Gaming” Trends Overseas
In overseas gaming communities too, tea and matcha popularity is expanding. Particularly in North America and Europe, alongside rising health consciousness, demand for “clean energy drinks” limiting sugar and synthetic components is surging. Here we introduce three notable overseas trends.
Gaming Brand and Matcha Collaborations
In North America, gaming supplement brands are successively incorporating matcha. For example, US supplement brands have introduced gamer-specific matcha powder like “Matcha Energy” and “Focus Matcha.” Designs enhancing concentration with naturally-derived caffeine and L-theanine without artificial sweeteners or coloring prove popular. While conventional energy drinks were “high-tension type,” matcha gains support from strategy game players and pro gamer demographics wanting calm play.
Twitch Streamers Introduce “Clean Energy”
On Twitch and YouTube Gaming, cases of popular streamers showing matcha drink consumption during streams are increasing. They choose matcha for reasons including “no caffeine crash,” “doesn’t prevent sleep even at night,” and “gentle on body,” with viewer purchase link traffic and collaboration projects thriving. Particularly overseas, influencers disseminating lifestyle directly connects to brand recognition, making it excellent marketing channel for matcha brands.
Changes in Esports Team Sponsor Selection Too
Overseas pro esports teams are shifting sponsor contracts from conventional energy drinks and carbonated beverages toward no-sugar, natural drink brands. This represents part of player health management and brand image strategy. To extend player lifespan long-term too, trends avoiding excessive sugar and stimulants strengthen. Matcha possesses good compatibility with keywords including “Japanese culture,” “healthy,” and “sustainable,” attracting attention as differentiation element in sponsorship contracts.
Discover “Tea × Gaming” Possibilities More with Matcha Times
Matcha Times comprehensively disseminates all matcha-related information including health effects, market trends, and lifestyle utilization. Beyond enhancing gamers’ concentration, you can deepen matcha knowledge useful for daily life and business.
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Summary | Tea as “Clean Energy”
Tea is optimal drink for esports, simultaneously achieving concentration maintenance, composure, and hydration. Through caffeine-theanine synergistic effects, it realizes gentle awakening and relaxation balance unobtainable from coffee or energy drinks. Furthermore, zero calories and zero sugar impose no body burden even during long play.
Henceforth, products like “gaming matcha” and “powdered green tea sticks” will likely spread in Japan as overseas. For players, sufficient value exists in incorporating tea as “clean energy habit” for demonstrating stable performance in critical moments.
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