Miracle Cup: The Health Benefits of Green Tea

How do you fit a miracle in a cup?

For 4,000 years, the Chinese people have been using green tea as treatment for everything from headaches to depression.

Today, studies are conducted in Asia and the west in order to produce hard evidence of the health benefits of green tea. In the 1994 edition of the Journal of National Cancer Institute, the results of an epidemiological study stated that one of the health benefits of drinking green tea is that it can reduce the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by up to 60%.

The rich presence of catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the reason why green tea has so much health benefits. A powerful antioxidant, EGCG can not only inhibit the growth of cancer cells but can also destroy them without harming healthy cells.

The University of Purdue has also concluded a research on how a certain compound present in green tea can stop cancer cells from growing. Still another health benefit of green tea is its ability to lower down cholesterol levels and improve the ratio between good (HDL) cholesterol and bad (LDL) cholesterol.

The EGCG in green tea is a health benefit substance that can lower down LDL cholesterol levels and stop blood from forming abnormal clots (thrombosis), a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes.

Green tea has more health benefits compared to other Chinese teas like oolong and black tea, all of which come from the plant Camellia sinensis. What makes green tea different is the process by which it is made. Green tea owes much of its health benefits to how the Camellia sinensis leaves are steamed. The steam process keeps the EGCG health benefit of green tea from oxidizing. With oolong and black teas, however, the leaves are fermented instead of being steamed, thus causing the EGCG health benefit to transform into another less medicinally potent form.

Aside from medicinal value, green tea can also offer other health benefits, especially in the fitness field. Drinking green tea can cause a person to burn down more calories. A recent study on the health benefits of green tea shows that the drink can help dieters. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1999, men who take both caffeine and green tea burn down more calories than men who only take caffeine or a placebo.

Another health benefit of green tea is its bacteria-destroying properties. The health benefit of green tea in this area is that it can help prevent food poisoning and also prevent tooth decay. The substances found in green tea kill the bacteria causing food poisoning and those that cause dental plaque to form.

Well known for its countless medicinal and health benefits, green tea is nothing short of a miracle.

Green Tea Weight Loss Capsule

It should be noted though that there is no such thing as a miraculous weight loss capsule that can shed your fats in a snap. But herbs such as green tea in weight loss capsules have been known to promote weight loss in a variety of ways.

How Weight Loss Capsules Work
Some herbal weight loss capsules “trick” the brain into thinking that the stomach is full. This makes the weight loss capsule as an effective appetite suppressant and helps stave off hunger pangs.

Other herbs like green tea in weight loss capsules have thermogenic properties that help speed up the body’s metabolic rate. Thermogenic herb weight loss capsules, e.g. green tea weight loss capsules, are considered as stimulants because of their caffeine content. Caffeine in these weight loss capsules is responsible for increasing the rate of all bodily functions like heart rate, digestion, and respiration.

Still, other herbal weight loss capsules are chiefly diuretic. This means that the person taking this kind of weight loss capsule loses water from his body. Diuretic weight loss capsules can quickly rid the body of excess water but once halted, weight can return just as quickly.

The Effects of Weight Loss Capsules
Even though some herbs like green tea in weight loss capsules can prove beneficial, others are toxic and cause dangerous side effects.

Some weight loss capsules made from thermogenic herbs have several harmful side effects. The stimulant ephedra, a common substance found in weight loss capsules have been known to cause cardiovascular ailments. A total of 800 cases reported by the FDA revealed that ephedra weight loss capsules were the cause of at least two deaths. Similarly, other herbs used for weight loss capsules such as herbal laxatives and herbal fen-phen, have been associated with irregularities of the heartbeat, heart attacks, cramping, diarrhea, and strokes.

A safer choice for people using weight loss capsules are those made from herbs like nettle, green tea, and dandelion among others which can stimulate metabolism without causing the heart to race.

Green Tea is safe as a weight loss capsule
Green tea has been used all throughout China since the ancient times. The steamed leaves of the Carmellia sinensis plant (the scientific name for green tea) were used as a local remedy. Ailments such as headaches, bad digestion, and depression were treated using green tea. Nowadays, scientists believe that green tea can potentially cure such major diseases as cancer.

Green tea contains antioxidants that twenty times more than that present in Vitamin E. Antioxidants in green tea act on free radicals that are the major causes of aging and diseases in the body. Green tea therefore not only keeps you young but also boosts your immune system to keep you from harm.

A recent study at the University of Geneva revealed that green tea can cause weight loss. The catechin polyphenols found in green tea are said to interact with the substance caffeine that increases thermogenesis. Metabolic rates in an individual have been known to increase by four percent when using green tea, either as a green tea extract or green tea weight loss capsule.

Green tea weight loss capsules have less caffeine compared to other weight loss capsules. This causes green tea weight loss capsules to act as a mild appetite-suppressant. One of the bad side effects of caffeine in weight loss capsules is that it can cause the heart rate to accelerate causing cardiovascular complications and in extreme cases, even death. With its low caffeine content, a green tea weight loss capsule therefore does its job without causing any undue harm.

Green tea weight loss capsules are also valued for their diuretic properties. Green tea can help rid the body of extra water thus reducing bloat and unsightly appearance.

In the scientific world, green tea has continued to create wonders. Many more studies are conducted to investigate other benefits of drinking green tea. It seems no other tea has quite as much health benefits as green tea.

Study on Green Tea and Weight Loss

For many years now, several benefits are attributed to drinking green tea. Today, researchers have come up with newer proofs to solidify the belief that green tea can be used as a treatment for obesity and for weight loss.

It is held that more than half of the American population have weight problems or are obese. Conditions like these are almost always linked to certain complications like heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, sleep apnea, gall bladder disease, and hypertension. Weight loss can aid in assuaging the symptoms of some of these conditions.

Scientists have tirelessly investigated on the weight loss benefits of green tea. They have found that green tea can actually enhance the total amount of energy spent by the body. From their findings, they were able to deduce that green tea has great potential for a weight loss benefit.

Other researches were able to confirm the weight loss benefit of green tea. A recent study at the University of Geneva had the conclusion that, “Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by its caffeine content per se.” Where before it was generally believed that the caffeine content in green tea is the reason for its weight loss benefit, this recent study deviated from that theory. Green tea has other substances in them that are helpful in weight loss.

The same team who conducted the study on green tea’s caffeine content and weight loss banded together in Switzerland to perform another experiment. They were still able to come up with the same results – that green tea has several thermogenic attributes that make it perfect to use in any weight loss program.

Sample Studies: Green Tea and Weight Loss
Green tea reduces body fat accretion caused by high-fat diet in rats through beta-adrenoceptor activation of thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue. Conducted by chief scientist J.J. Choo of the Department of Food and Nutrition, Kunsan National University, this study aimed to find out if green tea can suppress body fat and to find out whether this suppression is connected with thermogenesis spurred by the body’s beta-adrenoceptor being activated.

To investigate the weight loss benefit of green tea on rats, the scientists placed their subjects on a high-fat diet and provided them with green tea extract. It was discovered that even though the rats were on a high-fat diet, the green tea extract counterbalanced fat gain without affecting the amount of energy they took in. Green tea was said to have shown some weight loss benefits in the fact that it can prevent fat from being stored, can increase protein levels, and promote thermogenesis by triggering beta-adrenoceptor to action.

Recent findings of green tea extract AR25 (Exolise) and its activity for the treatment of obesity. This study is a collaborative work between Doctors P. Chantre and D. Lairon of the Laboratoires Arkopharma in Carros, France. Published in the 2002 issue of Phytomedicine, this study aimed to find out if green tea extract has weight loss benefits and can be a potential cure for obesity.

In their study, they used an 80% ethanolic concentrate in green tea extract with standardized 25% catechins. They tested the green tea extract and were able to find that it could directly inhibit gastric and pancreatic lipases. These enzymes are the primary cause of fat storage and by delaying their actions; green tea extract therefore exhibits a weight loss benefit that can help solve obesity problems.

It was also discovered in this study that green tea can stimulate thermogenesis. Given to moderately obese patients, the green tea extract was said to have caused a decrease in weight by 4.6% and a reduction of waist circumference by 4.48% after only three months. The findings of the study clearly implicate the weight loss benefits of green tea.