Weight Loss Tea - Green Tea Diet
Research Studies Show Green Tea to be a Weight Loss Tea!
For 4,000 years, Asians have regarded green tea as something more than just a beverage. Green tea was used as herbal medicine and treatment for everything from headaches to depressions and even to weight loss.
Research studies have been conducted in recent years to identify what compound present in green tea makes it a potent health drink.
The scientists have found that green tea contains several antioxidants, which are responsible for many ofgreen tea's health benefits, including weight loss.
A research study by American and Swiss scientists on the weight loss benefit of green tea was concluded and the results of which were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Urology.
During the course of the study, they have found that green tea contains certain compounds that contribute to its potential as a weight loss tea.
Lead researcher D. Abdul Dulloo said in a press release that there are only two ways to achieve weight loss -- either reduce energy intake or increase energy expenditure. Green tea, it seems, has compounds that can increase the body's normal metabolism rate, thus making it a weight loss tea.
At the University of Geneva, where the study was conducted, Dr. Dulloo and his colleagues experimented on ten healthy young men. They theorized that the main contributor to green tea's weight loss benefit is its caffeine content.
To test this hypothesis, they placed the study's participants on a typical "Western" diet, which is about forty percent fat, thirteen percent protein, and forty-seven percent carbohydrates.
Three times a day, the researchers measured their subjects' energy expenditure (the measurement usedin determining the number of calories burned in 24 hours) and monitored respiration to find out how well each person in the study utilized carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
When they interpreted the data, the researchers found that men receiving regular dosages of green tea extract showed a significant increase in their 24-hour energy expenditure and a reduction in their respiration quotient (which means that more fat is burned, thereby achieving maximum weight loss).
On the other hand, those men who were only given caffeine or a placebo with every meal showed minimal increases in their metabolism rates.
The scientists construed that the substance, catechin polyphenol, present in green tea adds to its benefits as a weight loss tea.
These substances may alterhow the body uses the hormone norepinephrine, which is responsible for increasing fat and calorie burning and optimizing weight loss.
Note: This article was written by Leon Reinhart, owner of GreenTeaArticles.blogspot.com, which includes a guide, tips and other information about green tea.
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