Does Green Tea Help with Weight Loss?
Green tea has been used throughout Asia for centuries to prevent disease, promote longevity, and improve mental functioning. But it is only within the past twenty years or so that green tea has become a popular healing remedy in the West. The antioxidant polyphenols in green tea help protect against oxitative damage, which can result in cancer, heart disease, and accelerated aging. Scientists have also cited polyphenols as potential inhibitors of inflammatory bowel disease and halitosis.
While the jury is still out as to the extent of green tea’s health benefits, it’s safe to say that we’d all benefit from a cup or two a day. But do green tea’s polyphenols also promote weight loss?
A Swiss research group made some interesting findings on that subject. It has long been established that ingesting green tea - or any substance containing caffeine - raises the metabolism. But the researchers hoped to determine if the metabolic boost could be attributed solely to green tea’s caffeine content, or if other compounds in the tea were contributing factors. Using a green tea extract rich in caffeine and catechin polyphenols, the researchers hoped to determine whether the polyphenols had thermogenic qualities, beyond the documented fat-burning qualities of caffeine.