For centuries, the ancient Chinese physicians have known about the secrets of green tea weight loss.
There are many health benefits to drinking tea. One of them of them is that it can help lose weight. Lots of weight loss supplements include tea extract. How does this beverage aid in slimming?
Green Tea Versus Black Tea
All tea is made from the same plant, camellias selensis. Different kinds of tea are made with varying combinations of leaves and buds from this plant.
Black tea is fermented after picking. Green tea is dried but not cooked, leaving it unfermented. Many of the antioxidants found remain in higher concentrations when unfermented.
Underlying Mechanism
Polyphenol catechins are antioxidant tea compounds. These antioxidants by themselves provide great health benefits, as they clean up free radicals that can otherwise damage our cells. When catechins bind with caffeine, the result is increased fat burning and fat oxidation.
Human Trials Results
Many studies have been conducted to look into the veracity of green tea weight loss claims. Often research starts with animals. With this tea, however, we are lucky to have many human studies to look at.
Tang Center for Herbal Medical Research, at the University of Chicago, has done research on catechins. Their results indicate that in subjects who took tea extract, levels of fat lipids, cholesterol and glucose were reduced.
Another study, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that subjects who drank a bottle of green tea fortified with extract lost more body fat over the course of three months than those who did not drink the tea.
Beverage Versus Supplements
There are several ways to get your cup of tea. Of course you can drink this marvelous beverage. A few cups each day can provide not only health benefits, but also a calming break from a hectic day.
If you don’t manage to drink enough for ultimate weight loss effects, you can try a pure green tea extract. These generally come in the form of capsules or liquid. And there are many weight loss formulas out there that use tea extract as one of the ingredients.
How Much Is Enough?
Various studies have used differing amounts of tea. The combined wisdom of all of the human studies indicates that 3-4 cups of tea is the right amount to achieve green tea weight loss. Combined with a healthy eating and exercise program, you’ll find the results are stunning!