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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.
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