Eating the right foods and training consistently can prove a major challenge for many dieters, regardless of their initial resolve. Any compound that promises to make this easier naturally draws attention. Green tea stands out as a natural fat burner and, with a wealth of research available to support a range of health effects, may help both your waistline and your cardiovascular health.
Camelia Sinensis
All green tea leaves come from the camelia sinensis plant, grown extensively throughout many Asian countries and distributed across the world. Make green tea by brewing dried tea leaves for several minutes. David Tolson, a researcher and a contributor to Iron Magazine, notes how the leaves retain a more impressive nutritional profile than regular black tea; as a result, the unfermented green tea leaves offer carotenoids, chlorophyll and catechins.
EGCG
Of all the phytochemicals found in green tea, the catechins received the most attention. The University of Maryland Medical Center note how these compounds, which make up 10 percent of the tea's weight, can be sub-divided into six different chemicals. Epigallocatechin-gallate, also known as EGCG, stands out as the most active of these. EGCG, together with the full complement of other catechins, can help in cases of atherosclerosis, liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease. It can also increase the rate of fat burning in the body.
Fat Burning
Tolson notes how EGCG helps weight loss by increasing the rate of thermogenesis, a process through which the body converts energy from stored fat into heat to boost the core temperature. It does this by inhibiting an enzyme called COMT, which normally degrades noradrenaline. As a result, increased levels of this peptide hormone can bind to receptors in the central nervous system, triggering thermogenesis.
Effectiveness
A 1999 study looked into the effect of green tea on thermogenesis and rates of energy expenditure. Dr Abdul Dulloo led a team of scientists who measured the response of volunteers to a green tea extract. They found that overall energy expenditure increased by 3.5 percent, while the proportion of energy that came from fat lept by a third. These results were published in the "Americal Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Comparisons
Green tea stands out from other weight loss aids because it may also improve health at the same time. Other agents known to increase thermogenesis, such as ephedrine, do so by acting as stimulants; they often cause side effects such as anxiety and disturbed sleep. Green tea, which contains the mental relaxant theanine, does not.
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