Green Tea Helps to Lose Weight


For many years people have been drinking tea all over the world. Various countries have certain traditions and ceremonies for tea time. However people knew about black tea a lot and drank it without thinking of other kinds, but a few decades ago, the top tea distributors, China and Japan, introduced green tea to the world.

It is collected from the same plant as black tea, Camellia Sinensis. The leaves are processed differently for green tea: fresh green leaves have to be steamed to keep the color and nutritious components (black tea leaves are fermented). This kind of handling helps to keep more polyphenols like epigallocatechin gallete or EGCG: while green teas usually have about 30-40% of polyphenols, black tea has only 3-10%.

EGCG is a powerful antioxidant that gives a lot of benefits to human body. It is believed that this polyphenol balances out blood pressure, staves off Alzheimer’s, lowers risk of a variety of cancers like breast, skin, and stomach cancers and helps to treat them. Green tea and products containing green tea extracts improve mental alertness, help with weight loss, protect skin from sun damage and lower bad cholesterol level.

Green tea is a relatively new product in modern society, so its ability to help with any of the above mentioned problems are only assumptions. Scientific researches on good qualities of green tea are being held in many places.

The idea of weight loss comes from the fact that EGCG increases thermogenesis or heat production. It does not mean a person that drinks green tea will necessarily feel hot; EGCG boosts the amount of calories burnt. The antioxidant does not melt dozens of calories in one day, but it helps the body to cope with extra calories better than caffeine in coffee or capsaicin in hot peppers.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has published a research that proved, green tea increases metabolism and oxidizes fat without raising heart rate. The good thing about this fact is that it is usually recommended to decrease calorie intake and increase physical activity in order to lose weight, but not every person can follow one of the paths due to way of life or health conditions, so green tea is the best choice in this situation.

According to the studies that have already been held on EGCG influence on metabolism, it became obvious, men that regularly consumed green tea extract instead of coffee of plain water had 4% boost in metabolism. The amount of the extract was equal to what one would get from a 6 oz cup of tea. Another study showed that green tea fortified with EGCG caused the participants to lose more weight than unfortified tea.

Green tea is believed to reduce cravings, so if the person that tries to lose weight is used to having a lot of snacks during the day, he or she can substitute them by a cup of green tea. It is good to brew a pot of it and sip some while the tea is warm, later on it can be put in a refrigerator and used as iced tea.

The opponents of green tea diet remind people that green tea contains caffeine, although it is not as high as in coffee or black tea, the caffeine still makes humans more alert and sleepless, can be harmful to those who have heart problems, kidney disorder or stomach ulcers. Green tea contains small amount of vitamin K which interferes with some medications making them less effective. It is also not recommended for pregnant women and children.

Katerine Stone

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Posted on March 7, 2009 
Filed Under Diet Reviews, Nutrition and Weight Reduction, Weight Loss, Weight Loss News, Weight Loss Products and Supplements

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