Fat Burning and More: 5 Amazing Benefits of Green Tea
Green tea is an amazing provider of nutrients and antioxidants which may help supercharge the body and prevent many diseases. It is an all natural compound from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant which has been around for centuries.
Green tea may come in various forms which include brewed hot or cold tea, pill-form supplements, or a finely ground powder called matcha. Although traditional brewed tea is an excellent choice, matcha green tea powder is much more potent as it is nutritionally equivalent to 10 cups of brewed green tea and have much more antioxidant power. Many of the pill-form supplements are a very active nutrient from green tea called EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate). EGCG is an extremely abundant nutrient found in green tea and many of it's impressive health benefits may be attributed to EGCG.
Click here for my favorite matcha green tea*
The major benefits of drinking green tea include weight loss, obesity, and fat burning but it has also been shown to have many other amazing benefits.
The Health Benefits of Green Tea:
1. Green Tea Helps You Burn More Fat
Compounds found in green tea called catechins (like EGCG) are very effective at improving fat burning when mixed with caffeine (which is also found in green tea). A recent large study in the form of a meta-analysis found that catechins in green tea mixed with caffeine provided increased fat burning over a 24 hour period in a dose-dependant manner (1). This means that more green tea intake containing caffeine and catechins can help burn fat throughout out the whole day.
2. Green Tea Helps Prevent Cardiovascular Disease:
Green tea has been shown to improve certain lab testing markers that are associated with cardiovascular disease. Studies have shown that the use of green tea may reduce total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol), and blood pressure; all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Prevention of cardiovascular disease is another possible benefit of green tea (2).
3. Green Tea Helps Prevent and Treat Obesity:
In addition to the fat burning properties of green tea, it may also do other things to help with weight loss and prevention of obesity. Green tea may also help curb appetite, limit fat absorption, and decrease the formation of fats by the body. These effects all lead to improved weight loss and show that green tea could be an excellent tool to use when treating and preventing obesity (3).
4. Green Tea May Lower the Risk of Cognitive Decline:
Cognitive decline seen in different neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease may be prevented with the use of green tea. A studying analyzing Japanese residents older than 60 found that those who consumed green tea 1-6 days per week are less likely to experience cognitive decline, with no association found with any other type of tea (4).
5. Green Tea Helps Improve Insulin Sensitivity and Type II Diabetes:
Regular consumption of green tea has been shown to improve type II diabetes and insulin sensitivity (5). This may be due to affect a key enzyme involved in cortisol (a stress hormone) production, which normally leads to sugar release, generation of fat, and insulin sensitivity commonly found in type II diabetes. The addition of green tea has been shown to stop this process and prevent the complications that are seen with insulin resistance and type II diabetes (6).
Overall..
Whether you drink green tea hot, cold, or in the form of matcha powder, it is an excellent option that can give you energy while burning fat and preventing the risk of developing many diseases.