Green tea boosts metabolism, protects against heart disease, strokes and some types of cancer and may help you live longer, according to "The Globe and Mail," Canada's leading newspaper. Whatever green tea can do, white tea can probably do better because it contains even more of the powerful antioxidants plentiful in green tea.
Properties
Green and white tea come from the same plant, camellia sinensis, as do oolong and black teas. The difference between the four teas is the amount of oxidation in each, which is affected by how long tea stays on the vine before being picked. White tea comes from the bud of the plant and is picked before chlorophyll has a chance to turn it green. White tea contains the highest number of antioxidants. Green tea contains the second highest -- about 3.5 times as many as black tea, which contains the least. Oxidation kills catechins, the fat-burning properties in tea.
Benefits
You'll get the most out of green and white tea if you brew them from loose leaves. A cup of green tea from loose leaves contains 132 mg. of catechins -- also called epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG on product labels. But the amount of catechins drops by half in decaffeinated and flavored versions of green tea and up to 90 percent in bottled green tea, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Because white tea remains less popular and commercialized than green tea, you are more likely to find it in pure forms. The USDA has not conducted a study about the catechin content of white tea but, according to the "Washington Post," you can expect white tea to contain more antioxidants and less caffeine than green tea.
Clinical Studies
Clinical studies weighing the effects of catechins on weight loss have also focused on those found in green tea. At least 15 studies show a positive correlation between consuming 300 mg or more of catechins daily and weight loss, according to Craig Coleman. Coleman, an associate professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut, said his review of weight loss studies found that people who drank three or more cups of green tea daily lost 1 to 3 lbs. in 3 to 24 weeks.
Effects
Catechins may be particularly effective in burning belly fat. Men who consumed 660 mg of catechins -- about 5 cups of strong green tea -- reduced their waist sizes substantially in a study conducted by Kevin Maki, president of a private United States research firm. In Maki's study, men exercised and followed a restricted calorie diet for 12 weeks while either drinking green tea or black tea. The black tea contained 22 mg of catechins. The green tea drinkers lost nearly twice as much weight as those who drank green tea, according to the results of Maki's study published in February 2009 in the "Journal of Nutrition."
Considerations
Catechins in green and white tea may also help you live longer. A study led by Shinichi Kuriyami, a researcher at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, followed the health of 40,000 Japanese for 11 years. Drinking 5 cups of green tea daily helped people avoid heart attacks and strokes, according to the study published in September 2006 in the "Journal of the American Medical Society." People born in Japan are 30 percent less likely than North Americans to die from strokes and heart attacks, according to "The Globe and Mail."
References
- "The Globe and Mail"; Green Tea a Possible Factor in Why Japanese Live So Long; Michelle Fay Cortez; September 13, 2006
- "The Washington Post"; Give Green Tea a Try, but Get a Handle on the Perfect Brew for You; Robert L. Wolke; April 25 2007
- USDA: Flavonoid Composition of Tea
- "Los Angeles Times"; Slim Chance Green Tea Can Burn Fat Off; Chris Woolston; Aug. 16, 2010
- "Journal of Nutrition"; Green Tea Catechin Consumption Enhances Exercise-Induced Abdominal Fat Loss in Overweight and Obese Adults; Kevin Maki etal; February 2009
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; Green Tea Consumption and Mortality and Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and All Causes in Japan: The Ohsaki Study; Shinichi Kuriyama, Yoshikazu Nishino, Yoshitaka Tsubono, Ichiro Tsuji; September 2006
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