Adapted from Karen Lee Richards

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that two out of every three U.S. adults are overweight or obese. If you’re one of the millions of people struggling to lose weight, it may be time to add a little green tea to your diet.

There is a strong body of scientific evidence supporting the beneficial effects green tea can have on body weight, waist circumference and abdominal fat.

The History and Mythology of Green Tea

Archeologists have found that people in China and India ate tea leaves steeped in boiling water as far back as 5,000 years ago. Green tea has been used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine for centuries as a stimulant, diuretic, and astringent (to control bleeding and help wounds heal), and to support heart health. Additional uses of green tea have historically included treating flatulence, regulating body temperature, regulating blood sugar, promoting digestion, and improving mental processes.

There is a popular legend in India concerning the origins of the tea plant. It is said that when Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was traveling through China, he became frustrated at his inability to stay awake during meditation so he tore off his eyelids. They say that a tea plant sprouted from the spot where his eyelids fell, and the plant gave him the ability to stay awake, meditate and reach enlightenment.

What Makes Green Tea Different?

There are three main varieties of tea – green, black and Oolong – that all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. When tea leaves are ready to harvest, they contain very high concentrations of an important class of polyphenols called catechins. However, as tea leaves are allowed to ferment, the catechin levels decline. Partially fermented leaves turn into Oolong tea and fully fermented leaves become black tea.

By contrast, green tea is produced by heat-treating the leaves soon after harvest to prevent fermentation and preserve the natural catechins.

This process also preserves the green color of the leaves. Although there are six primary catechin compounds in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is by far the most active, most abundant and most studied.

It is also EGCG that appears to be responsible for many of the weight loss benefits attributed to green tea.

Green Tea and Weight Loss – The Research

Multiple studies have been published showing that regular consumption of green tea – or of supplements containing the catechins extracted from green tea – may influence energy metabolism, body weight and body fat content.

Research into how the catechins, particularly EGCG, found in green tea benefit weight loss and fat distribution has been conducted in vitro (test tubes), using mice, and finally in clinical trials with humans.

All three research techniques have produced results indicating that high doses of catechins can be effective for:

A randomized placebo-controlled trial in China studied the effects of catechins on weight and body composition. A total of 182 moderately overweight men and women were divided into four groups and given two beverage servings a day for 90 days. The beverage given to the control group contained almost no catechins while the other groups received catechin doses ranging from 458 mg/day to 886 mg twice a day. In their conclusions, the researchers said, “This investigation shows that regular consumption of a very-high catechin green tea [500-900 mg] over 90 days leads to significant reductions in measures such as body weight, waist circumference and intra-abdominal fat…“(2)

To Drink or To Supplement…

Is it better to drink your green tea or to take a green tea extract supplement? While drinking green tea is certainly good for you, there are a couple of reasons why supplementing with an EGCG-rich green tea extract is better:

• Convenience. In order to get the amount of EGCG and other catechins used in research and found to be effective for weight loss, you would have to drink about 10 cups of green tea a day, depending on the strength of the brew. Or you could take a single capsule of Green Tea extract.
• 99.6% caffeine free. Even if you could manage to drink the needed 10 cups a day or more of green tea, you would be getting a great deal of caffeine with it. Green Tea EGCG  supplement contains only a trace amount of caffeine.

In Summary

Green tea has been studied extensively in humans, animals and laboratory tests. In addition to its many other known health benefits, green tea contains powerful catechins that have been shown to promote weight loss and reduce body fat, particularly in the abdominal area.

Excess abdominal fat is linked to the development of inflammation, diabetes and heart disease. Any help available to reduce abdominal fat should be eagerly sought.

Stay Healthy.