Aside from probably warding off certain kinds of cancers, it is also acknowledged that green tea has the capability to increase a person’s metabolism. Abdul G. Dulloo published the results of a study he helped to research at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. His team concluded that green tea seemed to raise metabolic rates and helped to speed up the oxidation of fat. “Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by its caffeine content per se," he states in the article he published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
In order to understand how exactly green tea might increase metabolic rate, it is important to understand the term thermogenesis.
Green Tea and Thermogenesis
Thermogenesis is a scientific term that simply means “heat creation.” Thermogenesis is most easily accomplished through exercise and shivering, which is the body’s way of creating heat in cold temperatures. When the body creates heat, it needs to burn more calories, which increases the metabolic rate. There are artificial means of creating thermogenesis, many that are used for weight loss. The most common are the use of caffeine, ephedra, and ginger.
Green tea contains caffeine, which contributes to the increase in metabolism. However, according to several studies, it is thought that the high levels of catechin-polyphenols, which are part of green tea thought to inhibit an enzyme that hinders the release of adrenaline, combined with caffeine creates an even greater thermogensis effect than that of caffeine alone. This would seemingly result in a higher metabolic rate that would help aid in weight loss. (Catechin-polyphenols are also the part of green tea that contain healthful antioxidants.)
It is also thought that green tea further aids in weight loss thanks to active flavanols found in the green tea leaf, particularly epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG (the same catechin that fights cancer.) EGCG is known to aid in the oxidation of fat. Fat oxidation, or beta oxidation, is the simply the breakdown of fat for energy use. It is thought that EGCG helps to breakdown brown or excess fat, which is converted into energy, which of course, leads to weight loss.
Studies that test green tea’s effect on weight loss have had, perhaps not incredibly significant, but positive results. The common consensus is that green tea should not be a person’s sole weight loss tool, but that combined with a healthy diet and exercise, it is certainly a healthy and productive weight loss aid. Since green tea is also a probable powerful combatant against cancer, there is no good reason not to enjoy a tall glass of it daily.
Source: greenteametabolism.org
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