Green tea is one of the world's oldest and most widely consumed beverages. Made from the leaf of the plant Camellia sinensis, green tea has many health benefits owing to its high concentration of powerful antioxidants. Although green tea has been claimed to speed up your metabolism, this assertion is not wholly correct. Your metabolism is a natural set of processes in your body that are largely unaffected by what you eat and drink. However, green tea can aid in maintaining a healthy weight.
Metabolism
Metabolism describes the chemical processes by which your body converts food and drink into energy for both active and essential functions. Even when your body is at rest, your metabolism is hard at work performing vital tasks, such as circulating the blood, producing and repairing cells and sending neural signals. Metabolism regulates the processes of digestion and elimination wherein your body extracts nutrients from the calories you eat and expels waste materials. Your basal metabolic rate is the amount of caloric energy that your body requires to sustain itself, and varies between people depending on age, sex and body size.
Metabolism Speed
Contrary to popular belief, metabolism speed has little to do with weight or weight gain. Except in rare instances of endocrine imbalances, such as hypothyroidism and Cushing's syndrome, metabolism is a steady process of converting calories into usable energy. Weight gain results from consuming more calories than your body requires to accomplish its essential functions and support your level of activity. As specialists at the Mayo Clinic describe, the idea of speeding up your metabolism is commonly mistaken for facilitating weight loss. While green tea does not technically boost your metabolism, it does aid in the processes of digestion and can support weight loss.
Green Tea Health Benefits
Green tea is full of antioxidants, which help the body neutralize the harmful effects of free radicals in the environment that contribute to cancer, premature aging and cardiac illness. In addition to other properties, green tea contains catechins, a particular antioxidant proven to support liver health, detoxify the body, and promote weigh loss and the reduction of body fat.
Supporting Research
While green tea might not directly speed up your metabolism, research demonstrates that regular consumption can facilitate weight loss. A 2005 study published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" reports that over the course of a two-week diet, clinical trial participants who ingested catechin-rich green tea were found to have significantly lower weight, body mass index and body fat than the control group. Research conducted in Japan and published in 2004 in "In Vivo" offers evidence that catechins in combination with the caffeine present in green tea can lead to a substantial reduction in belly fat and have an anti-obesity effect.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Metabolism and Weight Loss
- National Cancer Institute: Tea and Cancer Prevention
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Ingestion of a Tea Rich in Catechins Leads to a Reduction in Body Fat; T. Nagao et al.; January 2005
- "In Vivo"; Anti-Obesity Effects of Three Major Components of Green Tea; G. Zheng et al.; January 2004
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