How Does Green Tea Help Weight Loss?
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Thermogenesis
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Thermogenesis is the process by which the body generates heat, or energy. The body generates heat by raising the level of the metabolic rate above normal. Green tea contains two substances that achieve thermogenesis in the body by raising the metabolic rate: caffeine and epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. Both of these substances push the metabolic rate of the body up, causing it to burn calories more quickly than it would normally.
A study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1999 found that "oral administration of the green tea extract stimulated thermogenesis and fat oxidation and thus has the potential to influence body weight and body composition..." The link to the full study is listed below.
Better Than Resveratrol
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The "French Paradox," a much-studied irony that the French eat a high-fat diet yet experience less heart disease than Americans, has been linked to the polyphenol known as resveratrol. Resveratrol is present in red grapes used to make red wine, which the average French person drinks in much greater amounts than does the average American. Resveratrol is known to lower the levels of blood fat and prevent accumulation of fat. (See link to article below.)
In 1997, Dr. Lester Mitschner with the University of Kansas found that EGCG is twice as effective as resveratrol. If Americans began drinking enough green tea, we might be able to come up with a paradox of our own. -
Food and High-Calorie Drink Replacement
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Another way green tea helps in weight loss is simply by becoming a much healthier, lower-calorie alternative for normal food and drink choices. Simply by drinking a cup of green tea with a squeeze of lemon and forgoing that daily latte, you eliminate about 180 calories and 9 grams of fat. Replace that mid-morning pastry and cup of coffee with cream with another cup of green tea and an apple, and you are helping your body not only burn calories faster by raising the metabolic level, but you are also eliminating nutrition-less calories and high levels of saturated fat.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Kanko* at Flickr
