In the Far East drinking green tea is an old tradition, and, due to its positive effect on the health of the western world, it has been becoming more and more popular in the Western world as well. According to research one of the most important health benefits of green tea is that it prevents obesity.
It reduces blood fat levels and body fat
Russian researchers studied the effect of antioxidant substances found in green tea called catechins on metabolism, and on obesity in general. During the research, one of the groups of the test rats received a high energy diet for seven weeks, while the other ones are given the antioxidant catechin along with the high-energy diet for four weeks.
Research has found that the catechins found in green tea affect positively the good and bad cholesterol levels in the blood. In addition, catechins had a positive effect on triglyceride levels in the blood as well, and the amount of fat in the body of the rats was also reduced.
An even better effect with frequent exercise
Another experiment conducted in Japan examined the effect of green tea consumption and regular physical activity combined. In the experiment, mice of the same age and body weight were studied, in order to find out how body weight changes depending on the fat content of a given diet with green tea extract added to it, as well as the effect of a given amount of exercise.
After the fifteen-week experiment, researchers have found that in a high-fat diet, green tea extract reduced body mass by 47%, whereas regular physical activity decreased it by 24%. The big surprise was, however, that the combination of the two factors resulted in an 89% reduction of the body mass. In conclusion, green tea is very effective in breaking down fat if regular physical activity is present.
Green tea combined with caffeine
So far, researchers have not been engaged much in studying the combined effects of green tea and other substances, but this has recently taken place in a Dutch study. 76 overweight individuals participated in the study, which had just undergone a green tea and caffeine weight loss cure, and the aim of the study was to find out how well they can keep their after-cure weight. These persons were on a very low-calorie diet for four weeks, and then for three months they were on a diet designed for them to maintain their body weight, a diet with a green tea caffeine mixture added to it. The control group did not receive the mixture; they only consumed the diet for weight retention. The researchers studied the changes in the body weight, and the body fat as well as regular caffeine consumption.
In case of those persons who consumed beverages with a higher amount of caffeine, the decrease in the body mass and body fat as well as the circumference of the hips was more significant than in the case of those who had a lower caffeine intake. Those who consumed less caffeine over the three-month period kept losing weight as a result of consuming green tea, and the rate of energy burning was faster than in the case of those who did not receive a green tea and caffeine mixture.
Regarding caffeine, it is worth mentioning that this substance has a stimulating effect, so only a moderate use of it is recommended. The study confirms previous assumptions that green tea speeds up the breakdown of fats and thereby plays an important role in the treatment of obesity.