Green Tea for Fat Loss
Green Tea for Fat Loss
Are you fed up of waking in the morning and stomping downstairs like a tea-rex, or struggling to get up after last night’s par-tea, and want to start your day with a bit of positivi-tea? Ok, I’ll stop there, you get it, this article is about tea!
In the UK we love a good cup of tea, whether we add milk, sugar, lemon for our own individual taste or drink it straight up black.
There is just something about tea that sparks devotion to the drink; in the UK we consume 60 billion cups of tea per year. That’s more than 900 cups for each individual across the Great Britain, and you can probably think of someone who drinks more than that!
We drink tea for every occasion, every emergency, celebration, event or meeting as soon as we stop we ‘get the kettle on’. But what about for our own health and wellbeing?
Green Gains
Green in colour and made from the same plant as our beloved black tea – the Camellia Sinensis. Green tea isn’t actually processed, it’s black tea that goes through the fermentation process, which changes the colour and the flavour.
Leaves and hot water is a simple recipe with a whole lot of health benefits. But what about green tea for fat loss?
Well, inside green tea are a magnitude of fat-burning compounds, naturally rich in two very beneficial compounds for our body, caffeine and antioxidants.
Caffeine
This stimulant that has been proven time and time again to help burn body fat and improve exercise performance (1) .This winning combo of exercising and burning extra calories is what will drive individuals towards their health and fat loss goals. The extra calorie burn combined with a healthy calorie-controlled diet is one of the best ways to shift stubborn excess fat. That is why you will find caffeine in lots of fat-burning and pre-workout supplements; green tea is your new go-to before and after your workouts.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are plant compounds that help us to fight against ‘free radicals’, particles that increase oxidative stress in our bodies. As green tea is not processed, it contains more antioxidants, and subsequently more health benefits than black tea (2).
Green tea contains a group of antioxidants called polyphenols, which make up to 30% of its dry weight. Most of these are flavonols, which are commonly known as catechins, is where science focuses its attention on their ability to support fat loss.
Tea catechins appear to have anti-obesity effect; recent studies have found that consuming green tea and green tea extracts may help to reduce body weight and fat, by increasing our bodies’ metabolism and fat oxidisation.
Further studies have found that green tea catechins on obese males had the potential to increase fat oxidisation than those given a placebo (3).
Catechins, the main antioxidant in green tea can help the body to break down more fat to be released into your bloodstream for energy. Hence why green tea as a supplement to your health and fitness goals can be the perfect aid to fat loss.
Work Harder
There is no supplement for hard work, however if you have constructed a fat burning workout then green tea can help support your approach to this regime.
Green tea extract, which contains caffeine, can help to perk you up before working out so you’re ready to give everything, together with increasing the amount of fat you burn during exercise.
There are a number of studies to support this claim but one specific study on normal-weight, active males cycling for 30 minutes found that taking a green tea catechins supplement in a 24-hour period before the exercise burnt 17% more fat than those who took a placebo (4). Do we need to say any more, green tea for your fat loss goals is a must together with a well balance diet and workout regime.
Fighters Core 30 Day Cut: See our 30 day cut supplement here. Or view our body recomposition supplement guide.
