So, does green teal help with fat loss? After all, we get
disappointed time and time again from so-called miracle fat
loss supplements, products and training routines.
Have you had your green tea today?
Let’s set aside all the wonderful health benefits for
now and take a look at green tea strictly as an aid
to fat loss. Does green tea help with fat loss and if so, how well?
A lot of studies (both human and animal) have shown
green tea has great potential for ramping up your
metabolism and burning fat off your body.
One study (see below) looked at the potential for green tea to stimulate
thermogenesis and fat burning.
This study had 10 healthy men
spend periods of 24 hours in a metabolic testing chamber.
During these test sessions they took either
1) green tea extract that contained 150 mg of caffeine and 270 mg of
epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG – the key active ingredient
of green tea)
2) 150 mg of caffeine or
3) a placebo.
So what were the results? There was no difference in
thermogenesis between the caffeine group and the placebo
group.
The green tea extract increased 24 hour metabolism
by 4% compared to the placebo group. In this case, that
translates into about 80 calories a day.
What does this mean for fat loss? It means green tea
can definitely be used as an aid in your weight loss efforts.
A metabolism increase of 4% is significant. Now, that leads
me to the other side of weight loss products and supplements.
While green tea can play a real role in your weight loss
efforts, because of the way these products are advertised,
people have unrealistically high expectations of what these
products can do for them.
If you have a resting metabolic
rate of 2,000 calories per day, taking green tea can help
you burn an extra 80 calories a day. This isn’t a lot
but does equal 7 pounds over a years time. And this is 7
pounds for doing nothing.
If you take a real fat loss aid like green tea (and there
are many weight loss products that don’t work at all – that’s
another entry), have an understanding of what you can expect.
And remember, you must have a complete fat loss plan in place.
If you’ve been gaining weight and are eating 100 more calories
a day than you burn and you add green tea, guess what? You
won’t lose weight, you’ll just slow down your weight gain.
Put an effective fat loss training program, consisting of
a weight training routine, high intensity cardio and proper
nutrition. Then, adding a quality supplement like green
tea may help accelerate your fat loss efforts.
And don’t forget, unlike a lot of the weight loss programs that
don’t even work, taking green tea has numerous health benefits above
and beyond the fat loss aspect.
Green Tea Study – (Dulloo AG, Duret C Rohrer D, Girardier L, Mensi N,
Fathi M, Chantre P, Vandermander J, Efficacy of a green tea extract
rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-hour
energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition 1999 Dec;70(6):1040-5)
Gregg Gillies is the founder of [http://www.buildleanmuscle.com] His articles have appeared in Ironman Magazine. He has written two books and is a regular contributor to Body Talk Magazine. He publishes a free fitness newsletter available at his site that includes lots of weight training tips, fat loss, nutrition and exercise program information to help you build your best body as quickly as possible. You can read more articles at Weight Training Articles [http://www.buildleanmuscle.com/weightlifting-articles.html] See how you can get a customized muscle building nutrition plan at http://www.mynutritionjournal.com
