The purpose of the article series “Fat Loss Supplement” is to find and investigate ways to increase fat loss naturally. In the first article of this series I touched on calcium as a fat loss supplement. Today you will read about the similar benefits of green tea.
People from Asia and the Middle East have been enjoying the health benefits of green and black tea for centuries. Nowadays these types of tea are becoming widely popular in the west as well.
Fact is tea in general is the second most consumed beverage, next only to water. Can you imagine that? It is not coke, it is not beer, it is tea! I bet you didn’t know that.
What is green tea?
Well, did you know that green tea as well as black, white and oolong teas are all derived from the same plant – Camellia sinensis. The only difference is the way of processing. Green tea, as opposed to black and oolong, is the one that’s processed the least – the process of oxidation is skipped here. This is the reason why it retains its green color.
Green tea and fat loss
Green tea contains polyphenols such as the catechins epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is represented in the highest levels in green tea and that’s why it’s considered the main antioxidant in it. The alkaloid caffeine is also present in green tea.
Scientists agree that all the health benefits of green tea, including the increase in metabolism and consequently fat loss, are due to the catechins (antioxidants) and caffeine, found in it. It is believed that the combination of these two is what plays the main role in stimulating the thermogenesis (using stored fat for energy).
How does it work? The catechins and caffeine together act as an inhibitor of the enzyme catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT). COMT inactivates the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. Well, by inhibiting COMT you can achieve higher levels of norepinephrine. Norepinephrine plays a role in increasing the thermogeneis and fat oxidation.
Other health benefits
Evidence shows that you can decrease the risk of hart disease if you are a regular green tea drinker. Green tea may also be beneficial in preventing hypertension, coronary heart disease and stroke.
Another benefit of green tea consumption is improved endurance capacity. The energy provided for the enhanced endurance is again from the increase in fat oxidation. With other words you will last more when running or doing any other intense physical activity, while using fat for energy.
Research also suggests that green tea drinking may be beneficial for cancer prevention, reducing the severity of rheumatoid arthritis, decreasing high cholesterol levels, strengthening impaired immune function and decreasing risk of developing infections.
Recommended doses
While drinking brewed tea offers all the benefits of green tea, one study showed that if green tea extract was taken in capsule form the bioavailability of polyphenols in the blood was higher.
I personally enjoy drinking brewed green tea but if that’s not your case you can do equally well (if not even better) with using green tea extract in capsule form.
The recommended dose is 250 – 500 mg of standardized green tea extract a day. If you remember EGCG was the main antioxidant in green tea, so when buying a supplement with green tea extract make sure it is standardized to EGCG content.
This is all you need to know about green tea. A lot of studies have been done but only about 20 percent of them involve humans. Definitely more human studies are needed to prove its efficacy as a fat burning agent, but to be safe drink your green tea. This way you can still reap the health benefits that many generations of people have enjoyed. You may even lose fat 😉
References:
Catechin and caffeine content of green tea dietary supplements and correlation with antioxidant capacity. – Seeram NP, Henning SM, Niu Y, Lee R, Scheuller HS, Heber D; Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California
Obesity and thermogenesis related to the consumption of caffeine, ephedrine, capsaicin and green tea – .Diepvens K, Westerterp KR, Westerterp-Plantenga MS. Human Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands