Tag Archive - catechins

Getting the most out of green tea

July 24, 2010 in green tea, health benefits, weight loss with 2 Comments

Tea drinking had its origins in China more than 4000 years ago. Green tea itself has been drunk as a beverage and used in traditional medicine throughout Asia. It has been used to help a number of ailments, including controlling bleeding, healing wounds, regulating blood sugar and even assisting digestion.

Reading the Tea Leaves
Green tea contains polyphenols which are considered to improve health, especially catechins.

Now most green tea drinkers will tell you that that the best-tasting green tea is brewed for under one minute with hot water that hasn’t reached the boiling point yet.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Rachel Strohm

It is also steeped for a short period of time. Boiling water and longer steeping times tend to give the tea a more bitter taste.

However his may not give you the best results for your health.

Researchers have discovered that using boiling water and longer steeping times actually increases the amount of polyphenols in the tea.

These studies suggest that the following guidelines can boost the polyphenol level in your green tea:

The tea leaves themselves - small loose leaf green tea is the best choice, because its infuses quicker. Tightly curled or large leaf tea require longer infusion times.

Teabags are not as effective - loose leaves are preferable to teabags. If you use tea bags they continuously dunked in the teapot to aid the extraction of the polyphenols

Temperature – boiling water may unfortunately increase the bitter flavour but it does aid the extraction of polyphenols

Steeping Time – tea should be steeped for more than two and less than five minutes. The polyphenol content of tea increases with steeping time.

Now this research raises a dilemma for green tea drinkers.

 

Should I extract the most from my green tea and live with the not so sweet flavour or should I just enjoy my tea and not consider the benefits of green tea?

I think the best answer is to see if you can acquire a taste for the loose leaf green tea that is brewed for longer and thus extract as many health benefits as possible from the drink. If the taste is too difficult I would suggest sweetening it with some natural honey. Nevertheless if you drink green tea weight loss can happen.

So why not treat yourself right now with a hot cup of green tea, a slice or two of mango and a relaxing detox foot spa?

Start losing weight now with green tea

July 24, 2010 in green tea, lose weight now, weight loss with 0 Comments

Green tea is not just restricted to providing health benefits. If you drink green tea weight loss can happen.

Today many people are trying different methods to lose weight. There are fad diets, miracle cures, hassle free endeavours and so on. Whilst green tea is no miracle fix it it can help in a number of ways.

But how can you trust the claims of green tea as an aid for weight loss?

Well the research studies that have been completed reveal the effectiveness of green tea in weight loss programs.

Scales
In one study 38 Japanese men with similar BMI and waist measurements were divided into two groups. Only one group drank tea with a high portion of the green tea extract catechins.

After 12 weeks these men experienced a significant lowering of their weight, BMI, body fat mass and subcutaneous fat area. This study showed that a daily ingestion of the catechins found in green tea may be useful in combating weight gain.

Creative Commons License photo credit: atomicjeep

In a second study, 10 Japanese men were randomly given a dose of the green tea extract catechins with caffeine or just caffeine or a placebo for 12 weeks. On the days they took the extract they expended more energy and burnt more calories than on the days they received the alternatives. The study concluded that the daily consumption of green tea might be useful in the prevention of obesity.

Extensive studies have also been carried on animals as well. In one study lab mice were divided into 5 groups and fed a high fat diet. For 15 weeks one group received green tea extract, another the same extract with exercise and the other groups received varying levels of exercise with no green tea. The results? Those taking the extract without exercise reduced their body weight gain by 47% but those receiving the extract and exercising recorded an amazing 89% reduction in their body weight gain.

Thus it appears that if you consume green tea weight loss will occur and is even more effective when combined with exercise.

In another study lab rats drank green tea instead of water for 3 weeks. The green tea reduced the animals’ fat tissue weight as well reducing cholesterol and fatty acid levels. Green appears to have a positive affect on fat burning and reducing cholesterol levels.

Another study on lab rats and mice involved giving them the most abundant green tea catechin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), in a pure form. The results caused the researchers to conclude that “dietary supplementation with EGCG should be considered as a valuable natural treatment option for obesity.” 

These studies reveal that green tea is a safe and effective way to increase weight loss.