Is Green Tea
Good For Weight Loss?
Green tea is ONE
of the healthiest drinks that you can try.
It’s loaded with antioxidants and various plant compounds
that benefit your health as well as detoxing your body.
Many people have also claimed that green tea can increase FAT BURNING and help you lose weight
overnight.
So… is green tea good for weight
loss? We’ll explore that idea in just a moment.
In this article we’ll examine the evidence surrounding green
tea and weight loss and how it can benefit you.
Benefits of
Green Tea Weight Loss
Before diving into the topic of weight loss, let’s explore
what green tea has to offer and what makes it effect for weight loss and
dieting.
One of green tea’s compounds is caffeine. Although a cup of
green tea holds much less caffeine than your average cup of coffee, it still
contains enough to have a mild effect on your body.
Caffeine is also a well-known stimulant that has been
found to aid fat burning cells and improve exercise performance in numerous case
studies.
However, green tea really flourishes in its antioxidant
content.
A case study has shown that drinking a cup of green tea can increases
the amount of antioxidants in your bloodstream, which can cause powerful
effects on metabolism in your body.
Green tea is loaded with potent antioxidants called
catechins. But the most important of these is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG),
a substance that can help boost metabolism. Therefore the benefit of green tea weight loss occurs easily in your body.
Although one cup of green tea may raise your antioxidant
levels, most studies have examined the benefits of green tea extract — which is
a concentrated source of catechins.
Green Tea Helps You Lose
Fat, Especially Tummy Fat
When you're trying
to shed pounds, most of what you drink should be plain water. Not only is water
naturally calorie-free, it's also the best way to hydrate. Green tea, however,
would be a close second in terms of its benefits for weight loss. While green
tea won't burn up all your belly fat, and it's not the miracle weight loss cure
it's sometimes portrayed as, it does have a place in a weight loss diet and
might help you shed pounds overall.
In actual pounds
lost, the effects of green tea are relatively modest. Although many studies
show that people do in fact lose weight from using green tea, there are
also some studies showing little effect.
A review on green
tea supplements found that people on average lost about 3-4 pounds easily. But
bear in mind that NOT all fat is the same. This may be due to age and
gender factor.
Subcutaneous fat lodges
under your skin, but you may also have significant amounts of visceral fat,
also called tummy fat, that gets stored in your body over time.
Several studies on
green tea show that although the weight loss effects are modest, a significant
percentage of fat lost is harmful visceral fat, which attributes to your tummy
fat as well.
In conclusion, green
tea extract or green tea supplements may help you lose visceral fat stored in
your tummy — a fat that is particularly harmful to your health!
Other related topics to lose weight read [metabolic cooking facts here]
Other related topics to lose weight read [metabolic cooking facts here]
Can Green Tea Automatically Make You Consume Less Calories?
One way that green
tea could aid weight loss is by suppressing your appetite.
So… does green tea help with weight loss? This
would theoretically make you consume lesser calories automatically — and
without any effort.
However, studies
produced conflicting results on the effects of green tea on craving control. A
great tea that reduces appetite as well would be red tea, you can read about it
in the article [ HERE ].
Several studies
suggest that green tea can boost metabolism and help people burn 3–4% more
calories each day.
Overall, green tea’s
primary effect is to increase calorie expenditure, making you burn more fat —
but it doesn't appear to have any noticeable effect on how much food you end up
eating throughout the day.
Of course, don’t
forget that the benefits of green tea and weight loss extend beyond losing
weight. It is also healthy for various other reasons.
Boosts Your Metabolic Rate And Burn Fat Cells
Keep in mind that your
body is constantly burning calories (some faster than others).
Even when you’re
sleeping or sitting down, your cells are performing millions of functions that
require energy.
Several studies
suggest that taking green tea extract or EGCG supplements can make you burn
more calories — even at rest.
In most studies,
this amounts to about a 3–4% increase, although some show an increase as high
as 8%.
For a person who
burns 2,000 calories per day, 3–4% amounts to an additional 60–80 calories
spent per day — similar to what you might expect from a high-protein.
Although most of
these studies were very short in duration, some evidence suggests that
the metabolism-boosting effect persists in the long term.
In one study in 60
obese individuals, those taking green tea extract lost 7.3 more pounds (3.3 kg)
and burned 183 more calories per day after three months than those not taking
the extract.
However, not all
studies show that green tea extract boosts metabolism. This may depend on the
individual case by case.
What The Verdict on Green
Tea and Weight Loss?
The Pros:
· Helps detox the body of antioxidants that
maybe harmful in your system.
· Lower visceral fat in the tummy.
· Helps boost your metabolism (though this may
vary from person to person).
· Healthier caffeine to boost energy compared
to coffee.
· Can help burn fat.
· Low calorie
· May help control cravings
· Helps reduce heart disease and type 2
diabetes
The Cons:
· There is currently no evidence that green tea
makes people eat fewer calories.
· Not everyone can lose weight rapidly (this is
due to gender/age).
So…what do we think
of the benefits of green tea weight loss?
As drinking green
tea for weight loss is more beneficial than harmful there is NO RISK in
drinking it — Even though green tea extract or EGCG supplements can cause a
modest increase in metabolic rate and fat burning, its effects are modest when
it comes to actual pounds lost.
However, every
little bit adds up, and it may work even better when combined with other
effective weight loss strategies like eating more protein and cutting
carbs.
In comparison, the
effects of drinking green tea and weight loss are probably minimal,
although regular intake may have long-term benefits for weight loss.