Green Tea: Another View

 

Green tea's popularity has exploded in recent years. The subject of inumerable studies for its potential health benefits, it's touted as (potentially, anyway) beneficial for everything from weight loss to cancer prevention and improved cardiovascular and liver health.
What do we know for sure? A natural source of caffeine, green tea is also effective for improving mental alertness. But the key component of green tea is an anti-oxidant called epigallocatechin gallete, or EGCG. EGCG is effective at combatting the damaging free radicals which can wreak havoc with our systems. Because of this, EGCG is considered beneficial in the prevention and treatment of cancers. But regardless, regular consumption of this anti-oxidant is considered to boost general good health and well-being.

What remains to be proven? A whole host of claims including the the role green tea can play in weight loss. Now - green tea extract is a very common ingredient in diet pills, where it is the caffeine component regularly found in fat burner concoctions. Caffeine, of course, increases heart rate. There is also some recent research which suggests that green tea may lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels, as well as be useful in slowing the rise of a person's blood sugar following a meal, by inhibiting particular digestive enzymes which process carbs and fats.

This is all well and good - not to mention that unsweetened tea is a zero calorie way to keep hydrated as well - so by all means, we should be drinking tea (if we like it.) But with regards to weight loss, bear in mind that one pound of fat is equal to about 3500 calories. The generally held theory for weight loss is that a person must maintain a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day, to lose one pound of fat per week. Research indicates that drinking five cups of green tea a day results in the burning of 70 to 80 extra calories that day. What this means is that if you did nothing more than add five cups of green tea a day to your diet, it would take you about 43 days to lose 1 pound, and about a year to lose about 8 pounds. Keep that in mind when considering the flashy ads and packaging of the oh-so-many miracle weight loss green tea products on the market.

Bottom line: it's no magic weight loss bullet, but it's beneficial in a multitude of ways - including calorie burning - so it's a good addition to the diet.