Green tea comes from the plant native to Asia called Camellia sinensis. This plant is rich in the green tea substance called epigallochatechin gallate or EGCG. Green tea’s EGCG is the substance responsible for destroying free radicals in the body which are the number one causes of aging and diseases. The antioxidant EGCG in green tea also helps in lowering down cholesterol levels.

Green Tea for Weight Loss Programs

A university study conducted by American and Swiss scientists show that green tea can be used in weight loss programs. Using ten healthy young men as subjects for their weight loss program, the scientists compared the difference in energy expenditures of green tea and that of caffeine or standalone placebo. The results show that green tea boosts energy expenditure by a significant four percent increase. This led many people to believe that green tea can have a significant impact on increasing the efficacy of weight loss programs.

Green tea is a great alternative for people who are on weight loss programs because it can help them lead a healthier lifestyle. For instance, instead of drinking coffee and cream which area high in calories, green tea weight loss programs can not only save you from taking in too much calories but also let you take in several healthful substances like polyphenols and flavonoids. Green tea also contains a small amount of caffeine, a key substance used in most weight loss programs because of its appetite-suppressant properties.

Other studies show that green tea in weight loss programs can help reduce fat by inhibiting the effects of insulin. Insulin is responsible for converting glucose into energy for the body to be stored into fat. By delaying insulin, green tea weight loss programs enable sugar to be sent directly to the muscles for instant use, thus preventing fats from forming.

Green tea in weight loss programs can also promote thermogenesis, the process by which the body burns fat and releases calories. This process is brought on by the interaction of the caffeine content and catechin polyphenols present in green tea. This is why weight loss programs based on green tea is an effective way to stimulate metabolic rates.

No supplement or weight loss program is known to work miracles. However, studies do indicate that green tea have many benefits in store for those enrolled in weight loss programs.

For four thousand years, green tea diet has been used all throughout Asia as a beneficial health and medicinal drink. Green tea diet is different from all other tea diets because its liquid is extracted by steaming the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant as opposed to full oxidation. In this way, green tea diet manages to preserve a lot more antioxidants and keep them intact for the body to use.

Green tea diet is an excellent source of polycatechin polyphenols, a group of antioxidants that act on free radicals. These free radicals have harmful effects on the body since they are the major causes of diseases and aging. With green tea diet’s polycatechin polyphenols, a person has a better chance of avoiding ailments and keeping himself healthy for a much longer period of time.

Another antioxidant in green tea diet is also being studied as a potential cure for cancer. Epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG found in green tea diet has been discovered to destroy cancer cells while keeping surrounding healthy cells unharmed.

The EGCG in green tea diet also acts with another compound, caffeine (a small amount of this is found in green tea). The interaction of these two compounds causes green tea diet to promote thermogenesis in the body.

It has been noted by a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that with the consumption of green tea diet, the body’s total 24-hour energy expenditure is increased by up to four percent. This is roughly equivalent to losing more than 10 pounds of weight a month.

Green tea diet helps increase the body’s metabolic rates. With its thermogenic properties, it is only natural that green tea diet can also promote faster metabolism of fats and sugars. Excess glucose found in the body is turned into fats by the hormone insulin. Because green tea diet has an inhibiting effect on insulin, green tea diet therefore helps keep sugar from being stored as fats and instead, send them directly into the muscles for immediate use.

The downside to a green tea diet

Although green tea diet has a reputation for boosting health, scientific proofs of its health benefits are still somewhat mixed. However, in an article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, American researchers collaborated with their Chinese counterparts to discuss the beneficial effects of green tea diet on cholesterol levels.

Using 240 men and women (average age 55) who possess mild to moderately high LDL cholesterol levels, the researchers instructed them to retain their usual low-fat diet, green tea diet intake, and activity levels. After twelve weeks, it was found that those who consumed green tea diet extract with their regular meals lost more than fifteen percent of their total LDL cholesterol levels.

Although the researchers never explained how green tea diet may influence cholesterol levels, previous studies have shown that certain compounds in green tea diet play a role in reducing the amount of cholesterol absorbed by the body, increasing amount of cholesterol excreted, and thus keeping cholesterol from being stored in the liver.

Subsequent studies were made to test the findings of the first group of researchers. Their results were contradictory. They found that green tea diet has no significant effect on the cholesterol profiles of their subjects.

There is no such thing as a miracle diet. Green tea diet, like all other diets, needs a lot of work and input from those who enroll in it. Green tea diet required both discipline and heart for it to make any significant impact on your weight loss goals.