As an herbal beverage, green tea stands out as one of the world's favorite drinks and plays a role in the culture of many Asian countries. As a supplement, green tea pills have captured attention for the range of benefits the offer, which includes both an improvement in cardiovascular health and an increase in fat burning.
Green Tea
You make green tea by adding the unfermented leaves of the camelia sinensis plant to hot water. Camelia sinensis, cultivated in an array of countries across the globe, also serves as the starting point for oolong and black teas. Only in the green tea form, however, does it maintain its nutritional profile, in particular its concentration of catechins.
Active Components
The catechins stand out as the active component in green tea's fat-burning effects. For this reason, supplement manufacturers standardize their products by either the total amount of catechins or for levels of EGCG. Also known as epigallocatechin-gallate, EGCG represents the most potent of the catechin chemicals and has impressive effects on weight loss.
Weight Loss Mechanism
David Tolson, a nutrtitional reseacher and a contributor to "Iron Magazine," explains that EGCG and the other catechins affect the rate of fat burning by increasing thermogenesis in the body. This process, which sees the body burn more fat to increase the core temperature, remains responsive to levels of noradrenaline in the central nervous system. Because the catechins inhibit an enzyme that breaks down this peptide hormone, noradrenaline levels increase; so, too, does the rate of thermogenesis and fat-burning.
Evidence
A 1999 experiment that appeared in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" showed green tea extracts as extremely useful to elevate the metabolism and burn extra fat. Dr Abdul Dulloo led a team of scientists that measured the effects a green tea extract. They found that those who used the extract increased their overall energy expenditure by 3.5 percent and that the proportion of energy that come from fat leaped from 31 percent to an impressive 41 percent.
Expert Insight
Dr. Joseph Mercola, a U.S. physician and author of several books on health care, explains that the catechins found in green tea can help improve health and body composition. He suggests between 60 and 105 mg of EGCG per day as a sensible and effective dose.
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