Most of us have heard about the potential for green tea to act as a weight loss tool. I’ve never really given it much credence. However, an article on Huffington Post, a well respected source, provides some clear evidence that supports this claim. I had heard the weight loss was related to the caffeine in the tea which gave the consumer the advantage. It appears to be a bit more than just that however.
According to the report, it’s the double-whammy of the green tea polyphenols and the caffeine which seems to be the magic sauce.
“Taking green tea extract and caffeine compared to taking caffeine only was associated with losing about three extra pounds over three months. Polyphenols in green tea have been shown to cause people to burn 65 to 200 extra calories a day, particularly from fat.”
One must of course caution drinkers that additives, such as sugar or milk, can easily eliminate any potential benefits from tea. It’s surprising to note that even if one used artificial sweetener, the calorie burn was lost. The article actually talks about the interesting effect of artificial sweeteners on the BMI (Body mass index). The data concludes that artificial sweeteners increase the BMI. So do as most tea aficionados do, drink your green tea straight up and neat.
If we can retrain our taste buds to enjoy subtler flavors and delight in the sweet taste of properly brewed green tea, it will have a tremendous impact on your eating and drinking experience across the board. We have become so used to over-sweetened beverages and foods that we’ve all but lost our ability to enjoy natural flavors that provide a unique sweetness of their own, green tea being such an excellent example. If you must add something while you’re retraining your pallet, try a squeeze of citrus fruit. Lemon is a familiar addition to tea, or perhaps try some blood orange. Slowly reduce the amount of fruit in your tea over time and voila, you’ll be a tea expert before you know it. Your mouth and your waistline will thank you.
For those of you with children, this is critical as you slowly introduce this subtle and sweet beverage to your kids. They will become lifelong tea drinkers and hopefully avoid the pitfalls of high sugar beverages which lead to horrifying increases in childhood obesity and Type II Diabetes. This is the first generation of children born in the U.S. over the last decade who are not expected to live longer than their parents.
Cheers Michelle,
I have read a bit about green tea benefits and weight loss, however, I have discovered the same benefits exist for white tea as well. Great read :) Cheers to you!
Yes, white tea has lots of benefits as well. It would be my first choice for kids as well.
That is a very good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere.
Brief but very accurate info… Many thanks for sharing this one.
A must read post!
Having read this I believed it was extremely enlightening.
I appreciate you sppending some time and energy
to put this information together. I once again find myself spending
way too much time both reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
I do trust all of the ideas you have offered to your post.
They’re very convincing and can certainly work.
Still, the posts are too brief for newbies. May you please prolong
them a bit from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.
Everyone loves what you guys are usually up too. Such clever work and
exposure! Keep up the fantastic works guys I’ve you guys to blogroll.
This design is wicked! You certainly know how to keep a reader entertained.
Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Wonderful job.
I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it.
Too cool!
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really
long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again.
Regardless, just wanted to say superb blog!
Good article. I’m going through some of these issues as well..
What’s up, all is going perfectly here and ofcourse every
one is sharing data, that’s in fact excellent, keep up writing.
Admiring the hard work you put into your site and detailed information you present.
It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t
the same out of date rehashed information. Great read!
I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
It’s hard to come by experienced people in this particular topic,
but you seem like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks