Ginseng Or Green Tea For Weight Loss

In a world filled with pharmaceutical solutions, herbal products remain popular for a variety of aims, from improving health and vitality to the management of chronic complaints. Some dieters look to herbs to enhance weight loss, with ginseng and green tea standing as popular tonics.

Green Tea

One of the world's most popular drinks, green tea has featured in the daily habits of millions of people around the globe for centuries. The partially fermented leaves of the camelia sinsensis plant include a number of compounds beneficial for health, but David Tolson, a nutritional researcher and a contributor to Bulk Nutrition, identifies the catechins as particularly important for weight loss.

Thermogenesis

Tolson explains that the catechins, a sub-group of the polyphenol plant compounds, demonstrate an ability to inhibit the breakdown of noradrenaline in the central nervous system. By upping the expression of this catecholamine hormone, thermogenesis takes place at an increased rate. This, in turn, increases the rate of fat burning and can help people with weight loss attempts.

Ginseng

The most popular form of ginseng, siberian ginseng or eleuthero senticoccus, to use its full name, stands out as a useful adaptogenic herb. These adaptogens typically lower specific hormones when in excess and reduce production when they measure low. Researchers from the University of Maryland Medical Center credit the eleutherosides as the active component of ginseng and note that the herb demonstrates the ability to balance cortisol levels.

Cortisol

As the body's major stress hormone, cortisol originates in the adrenal glands. Dr Robert Kapolsky, the author of the best-selling book on stress "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers," notes how the steroid hormone boosts blood sugar levels, reduces inflammation and helps the body recover from stressful situations. However, he also reports how high levels of cortisol can cause insulin resistance and turn on fat storage enzymes, blocking attempts at weight loss. Balancing out these excessive cortisol levels may help dieters achieve the results they desire.

Evidence

Although very few scientists have looked into ginseng's ability to improve fat burning, currently scant evidence exists to support its use as a weight loss aid. However, an article appearing in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in 1999 found green tea an excellent tool in this regard. The team of researchers, led by Dr Abdul Dulloo, discovered that green tea increased overall energy expenditure by 3.5 percent and increased the proportion of energy that came from fat from 31 percent to an impressive 41 percent.