Green Tea

LOTSA TEA OUT THERE: Black Tea, Yellow Tea, White Tea, Oolong Tea, Green Tea, Rooibos Tea…

All but the last one are made from the Camellia sinensis plant, Chinese in origin. Rooibos (also called Red Tea) is made from the South African Aspalathus linearis plant. 

Though black tea is the most common variety known in the United States, in recent years the use of green tea has grown dramatically, as word of its multiple health benefits has spread.  

Scientific and medical studies suggest that because of its high antioxidant content, green tea can contribute to a lower risk of developing heart disease and certain types of cancer. Other possible benefits include its effect as an antiviral and its protecting action against liver damage and even such brain diseases as Parkinson’s.  

Burns more fat AND reduces hunger!

But perhaps the best-known health benefit of green tea has become its contribution to weight loss. (Oolong tea also helps toward this goal.) Green tea has a strong thermogenic effect—meaning that it helps turn up the body’s fat-burning furnace to burn more calories.  

Green tea does contain caffeine—about a third the amount in coffee—but even though part of the thermogenic effect of green tea could result from its caffeine content, science shows that it goes beyond that.  

A study in the American Journal of Clincal Nutrition showed that while a given amount of caffeine alone produced a certain level of thermogensis (fat burning), green tea with the same amount of caffeine in it produced almost six times the level of thermogensis. In addition, this same research showed that green tea accomplished this without the usual “jitters” of caffeine, and with no increase in blood pressure or heart rate.  

But the benefits of green tea for weight loss don’t stop here. Because in addition to helping burn more fat, green tea also helps suppress appetite! How it does this isn’t yet fully known. But preliminary research suggests that green tea boosts the brain’s “feel good” chemicals (dopamine and norepinephrine), which helps decrease appetite.  

Green Tea and its "Good Stuff": CCK and ECGC

Scientists also suspect that green tea simultaneously boosts the level of a powerful appetite suppressant called cholecystokinin (CCK), and decreases pancreatic lipase, lower levels of which make it harder for the body to digest and store fat.  

Perhaps the one substance in green tea responsible for most of its beneficial anti-cancer, anti-heart disease, and weight-loss effects is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (ECGC). Not only has science identified it as one of the five most effective natural substances against cancer, it lowers cholesterol, fights infections, and is the responsible agent for green tea’s appetite-suppressing property.  

An excellent and detailed article on the latest scientific research on green tea may be found here.  

Green tea can become a part of your own appetite-suppression arsenal, either by taking green tea extract or ECGC supplements—or by drinking green tea. For extra weight-loss benefit, consider drinking the diet version of green tea, at least if it does not contain the damaging sweetener aspartame. One good choice widely available is the AriZona brand Diet Green Tea with ginseng, which comes in inexpensive gallon containers as well as smaller units.

You can drink green tea iced or hot—and buy it either in tea bags or in ready-to-drink form.

After water, drinking more green tea could be one of the very best ways to help suppress your appetite.  

For a great online source of information and available green tea supplements (below the info portion of the page), go to:

Also, consider these informative books on green tea and weight loss, here at Amazon: