Green Tea Weight Loss News

For decades, perhaps centuries, people have looked for the “miracle” diet or pill that will melt away fat and inches. Its hard to believe that anything exists that safely and effectively does this but new studies are showing that green tea can promote weight loss safely while providing antioxidant protection. Antioxidants are responsible for protecting cells against oxidation from a wide range of activities such as smoking or even exercising. 

Green Tea and Thermogenesis

A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that consuming green tea significantly increased energy expenditure. Plus, green tea has a component that increases fat oxidation as well. Some believe that the effects of green tea on fat could be caused by the caffeine but studies on the isolated caffeine have found that there is little effect stimulating fat oxidation. Researcher s believe that there is a synergistic effect that is caused by epigallocatechins (EGCG) and caffeine together to initiate these effects on fat loss.

This study also showed that there are great implications for weight loss. A 4% average increase in a 24 hour energy expenditure was due to the green tea extract. Also, the study found that the 4% increase actually was the equivalent of a 35-43% daily increase in thermogenesis because the body’s daily energy expenditure is due to it’s own thermogenesis. What does all of this mean? Basically, green tea helps to turn up your metabolism and assists your body in burning fat and calories as well as using EGCG to release fats in to the blood stream to be flushed out.

Can I Lose Weight by Simply Drinking Green Tea?

In short, possibly. For some, drinking green tea alone may be enough to begin see positive changes in your body. However,  the better solution is to use green tea as part of a bigger plan.  Here is the ideal lifestyle plan that includes green tea:

• Drink 4-5 cups of green tea per day or supplement your diet with green tea extract or green tea pills. See below on and selecting and using nutritional supplements.
• 20-30 minutes of exercise- this may  include walking, running, weight lifting, bicycling, hiking or any physcial activity you prefer. The point here is to get your heart rate up for 20 to 30 minutes, burn calories and begin to change your lifestyle! Pick some exercises that you enjoy and keep it interesting.
• Change your diet! This means eating a balance of protein, carbs. and vegetables. The rule of thumb is that your your portions should be equivalent to the palm of your hand. Also, cut out daily practices that you know are not helping you meet your goal, like eating that candy bar in mid day, drinking cokes instead of water or eating too much bread or pasta. This is a lifestyle change and will take a little time developing new disciplines but well worth the effort. Fitness nutrition is crucial for you to reach your goal… learn as much as you can about proper diet and then develop some daily disciplines, there aren’t any shortcuts! A home master cleanse could also be very beneficial as well.
• Supplement your diet… intelligently! Not every nutritional supplement or supplement company are the same.  Be sure and get high quality supplements that meet Good Manufacturing Standards (GMPs). That means that have the active ingredients standardized in each capsule they claim to have.  Good nutritional companies adhere to these standards, just do some research first! Here are the basic supplements to consider: vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, essential fatty acids, glyconutrients,  phytosterols and of course… green tea.  Also, there are certain muscle recovery supplements that can help you rebound quickly from workouts as well as foods that help a great deal as well.
• Get a partner to work out with! Having someone that you can be accountable to can be the difference in whether you will be successful or not.  You both need someone who will be honest with each other, pick each other up when your down and enjoy your successes together. 

Green tea is an amazing drink and supplement and some folks can see results in weight loss with it alone. But green tea and weight loss is a partnership; for most it is going to require a lifestyle change so don’t think of it as a stand alone product. Include it in to part of your new lifestyle… it could be an important peice to the puzzle that you have been missing.