Green Tea And Diet

Green Tea

Do you like green tea?? There is very good news for you. Do you know what are the beneficial of green tea?

That’s right…. So many advantages if we consume tea. We can explain it from many sides, for example, the side of enjoyment.  You can enjoy brighter day by a cup of tea in your hand every morning, it can make you more relax and fresh. From the healthy side, there are many advantages of drinking green tea for example can reduce the risk of stroke and can prevent cancer. But, what about the body weight management? Can green  tea help us to get a good body proportion?

The beneficial of green tea to prevent cancer can be related to body composition, especially for fat. So that green tea can be use for diet or weight management. Green tea contains high amount of flavonoids, especially catechins, which possess cell modulating and antioxidant properties. A number of studies have suggested a link between green tea catechins and weight control or body shape. Some high-catechin green tea products are already available on the market, some of which claim effects on reduction of body weight.
But what is catechin??

Catechins are a group of very active flavonoids found in high quantities in green tea. They include epicatechin (EC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin (EGC) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the latter being the most abundant and possibly the most active. Catechins are colourless, water-soluble compounds that contribute to the bitterness and astringency of green tea. Green tea contains more catechin than the other tea although they came from the same plant.

What is the catechin’s effect to our body?

There are some study about the catechin effect to body composition, something to consider are:

• Catechin has great effect on visceral fat and body weight. It is likely that green tea/catechins have more effect on body composition and fat distribution.
• Cultural and population differences may have influenced the results of the studies, so the effect of consumption is depend on your condition.
• There are some effects of other product’s consumption. Some of the studies showing weight control benefits of green tea/catechins limited caffeine intake from other sources. For some of the other studies, this is not clear but likely. The studies showing no effects allowed higher (300 mg/d) or unlimited caffeine intake. Thus, background caffeine intake may affect the effectiveness of green tea and it is possible that green tea/catechins may be more effective in low to moderate caffeine users.
• The combination of tea catechin intake with regular exercise was shown to more effectively stimulate body fat utilization for energy expenditure in humans than exercise alone

How come green tea can help body weight management?
Overall, in addition to its calorie-free property, green tea seems to have beneficial effects on weight management and body composition through its components.  Low doses, corresponding to 2-3 cups of green tea have been shown to help short term increases in energy expenditure and fat oxidation in several studies, probably through stimulation of sympathetic nervous system activity.