Lose Belly Fat With Green Tea
June 22, 2008 by David Grisaffi
Drinking green tea, and its cousin black tea or oolong tea, has been a custom in many countries for thousands of years. The tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. Everyone world wide enjoys a good cup of tea, however the benefits of drinking tea are not as wide- spread as they could be. Tea is without a doubt good for your health, helps with high blood pressure, keeping your heart ticking, aids in blood flow, keeps your bones strong, reduces your waist line, gobbles up belly fat and helps clean your kidneys plus a few more but I think you get the drift.
There is a difference in color between teas. This is a by-product of production. Green tea is the same as black tea however black tea is left out to ferment while drying. This process changes the color to black. It is a milder tasting tea and I would assume why it is a bit more popular. Oolong ferments about ½ the amount of time black tea ferments. Green tea is steamed and then let dry to keep the flavor intact. Green tea has nutrient rich properties that other beverages do not possess. It is rich in certain phytonutrients called catechins. This nutrient contains many different compounds but in an average cup of tea it provides about 125 mg of catechins.
Green, black and oolong tea possess health benefits as stated above. The phytonutrients or catechins found in the teas act to eradicate free radicals from your body. These free radicals are believed to be precursors to many health problems in our society. Green tea is however more powerful in this area than the other two, because the amount of catechins in green tea is more then double.
Teas do have a positive effect on reducing high blood pressure. Drinking just one cup a day can reduce your chances of high blood pressure by 80% according to a new Chinese study.
Your heart also benefits from tea consumption. Tea helps keep arteries clear and reduces cholesterol. Both have an enormous impact on longevity. Studies show that drinking 2 cups of tea per day can extend your life by 40%. Now that is worth thinking about.
For the women out there reading this you will also enjoy the simple fact that drinking tea strengthens and increase bone density. This really helps postmenopausal women. Just make sure you get your calcium and vitamin D everyday in addition to drinking green tea.
Now the best part about green tea, or all teas mentioned above in my opinion, is their ability to reduce your belly line. The least appreciate value of green tea is its catechins ability to interfere with fat digesting enzymes in the stomach and small intestines. This results in incomplete digestion of fat lipids.
This leads to fewer fats absorbed by the intestinal tract and more elimination of fat lipids. It has another benefit as a fat storage inhibitor. It also helps the body transfer from sugar burning to fat burning. This improves the belly line as you use more fat for energy. The increase fat burning is contributed to “thermogenisis” or heat production by your body. You can lose over a pound a month just by drinking a cup or two of tea per day. Now couple that with a good nutrition plan and exercise plan and you are in business.
There is evidence that stress and depression are associated with increased abdominal fat. Stress and anxiety plus depression increase the stress hormone cortisol. This hormone aids in the collection of body fat in the abdominal region. Green tea seems to have amino acid, which counteracts cortisols effect. The amino acid is called L-theanine.
The benefits of drinking tea are documented and more studies are in progress to help us understand the great benefits of the wonderful drink. Tea helps with all kinds of ailments and should be part of anyone’s overall health plan. If you want to know more about how to reduce your body fat level and improve your abdominal muscles, look to:
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Rob Cooper, also known as the Former Fat Guy once weighed 475 pounds. Through a system of natural health, whole foods and a basic walking program of 20 minutes a day, lost nearly 300 pounds of fat over 2 and a half years. Weekly weight training added over 50 pounds of muscle and has lowered his body fat even further. He’s the author of How To Lose 10 Pounds a Month, Every Month, a free report given to subscribers of his natural health and weight loss newsletter as well as the transformational...
July 19th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I really need to switch that cup of coffee I have in the afternoon with a cup of green tea. Do you need to brew a fresh cup to get the benefits? I know there are a lot of green tea drinks out there, but I never know how much tea there really is in any of them.
.-= JoJo´s last blog ..Melissa And Doug Corner Kitchen $59 =-.
July 25th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I recently read an article that said you can increase the absorption of Catechin, (the part of green tea that is good for you), by adding citrus to the tea. Turns out 80% of the Catechin passes right through you without being absorbed. Adding citrus, like a lemon, increases the absorption rate by changing the acidity of your intestine. Just a little FYI.
BK
July 25th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Increase the absorption rate of green tea catechin by adding citrus to it. Hadn’t heard that. I’ll look for more information on that and see what I find. Do you have a source that would shorten my search?
July 25th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
http://www.vrp.com/articles.aspx?utm_source=breakingnews20071205&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline2209&utm_campaign=email_blast&page=LIST&ProdID=2209&zTYPE=2
http://health.yahoo.com/tips/the-trouble-with-green-tea/realage–5248.html
Here are just a few, there are many articles about this discovery.
BK
.-= BlueKayak´s last blog ..The Importance of B Vitamins and Serotonin =-.
July 26th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Try here: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2007/2007-11-14-095.asp
August 31st, 2009 at 1:19 am
Beyond just losing fat, I believe Green Tea is really essential for your body, providing all that anti-toxins which can really help you be fitter and healthier.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:50 am
i love to drink green tea, but in the gym they told me it has a negative effect on testosterone levels. do you know if that’s true rob?
November 17th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Yeah GT is great! Tooo bad it tastes so awful!
November 19th, 2009 at 1:44 am
Great post. I love some tea. What’s everyones favorite types of exotic teas?
Just a little side note, CLA from red meat can help burn belly fat as well.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Does decaffinated green tea have the same effect?
November 20th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Lisa, from what I know about the decaffeination process, it’s done with chemicals. Personally, taking a perfectly good creation and then running it through a chemical process is not something I’d want to consume in the end.
I could not find a credible resource to direct you to in regards to the health benefits being lost in decaffeinated green tea, but I did find something about removing a good portion of the caffeine at home.
The theory is that most of the caffeine is released in the first 30 seconds of steeping (it’s a theory at least). So, prepare your tea, steep it for 30 seconds, pour off the beverage, and then add more hot water and steep for desired length of time.
If it’s a true green tea, with all the health benefits associated with it and it happened to be packaged by nature with a little caffeine, I’d trust it the way it is.
Just my 2 cents