green tea and weight loss

TheGreatGatsby

so apparently theres good stuff in green tea that speeds up your metabolism and helps burn fat as energy during exercise as well as being high in antioxidants to kill free radicals - like blueberries et al - and help in recovery. Which is nice...

As always I have some questions about this.

1) Will adding milk to the tea compromise the fat burning benefits?
2) How much should one drink in a day?
3) Does when you drink it have an effect on its properties? ie will having a cup directly before and after exercise work better for fat burn/recovery respectively or is it enough tat you drink it during the day?
4) How long will it take to notice the effects? Bit of a weird question as I guess everybody's body handles things differently but I was drinking root ginger/honey/lemon tea in the mornings during winter to help with poor circulation and numb hands and it made no difference after 3 months! (gave up in the end and just decided to suffer)
5) If you already have a low BF will it work the same?

Be interested in hearing anyones opinions and experiences with green tea and it reported benefits.

CHeers

Gats

mr-ed

I think I read something saying coffee had a similar benefit. The caffeine stimulates somethings if you drink it a certain time before exercise allowing your body to break down store fat more easily. Maybe wrong!

jpembroke

Are there any clinical trials to support these claims or does this rest on the assertions of the 'alternative' therapies market? In short, in this science or quackery?

jpembroke

I believe there are numerous studies in to caffeine's effects on metabolism so does this mean that a decent cup of coffee will produce better results than green tea as it has more caffeine? Stick to espresso in the case.

TheGreatGatsby

taken from the cyclingnutrition blogspot

Fat burners are important for cyclists for a couple of reasons. One, they can help unlock the fuel you need while riding. And, as the racing season approaches, they can help rid the last of the winter pounds. The University of Birmingham in the UK published the following findings on how green tea provides those benefits.

Drinking a couple of cups of green tea before exercise could help burn fat, researchers at the University of Birmingham suggest.
Scientists have found that green tea can increase fat oxidation – the rate at which fat is broken down inside the body – during moderate intensity exercise. The beverage can also improve insulin sensitivity and glucose intolerance, meaning it could have the potential to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
It is believed that green tea exerts its effects on fat oxidation through the inhibition of catechol O-methyltransferase, an enzyme that degrades the hormone noradrenaline. Higher concentrations of noradrenaline could potentially result in a continuing stimulation of the mobilisation of fats from fat stores. These fats may then be transported to the muscle and used as a fuel during exercise.
Experts from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences carried out the study, published in the current edition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The team of researchers, led by Dr Asker Jeukendrup, carried out two studies on young healthy men, who took either Green Tea Extract (GTE) – the equivalent of 3.5 cups - or a placebo before performing in cycling trials. Scientists found that in the first group, the average fat oxidation rates were higher and that the contribution of fat oxidation to total energy expenditure was also significantly higher.
Green tea, discovered in China nearly 5,000 years ago, has long been thought to have health benefits. Dr Jeukendrup said: " Over the last 10 years we have tried to find ways to increase fat burning during exercise. Apart from exercise training none of these ways have been very successful. EGCG, the active compound in green tea, seems to be different and caused a significant increase in fat burning. This has potentially positive effects for athletes who want to increase their fat burning capacity or obese and diabetic patients who want to burn fat and lose weight.”
In addition to effects on fat metabolism, green tea may have an effect on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity by improving glycemic control after an oral glucose load. After a meal insulin increases and this hormone makes sure that the nutrients are taken up by different tissues. In patients with type 2 diabetes tissues are insensitive to insulin. The study showed, however, that green tea extract ingestion can increase insulin sensitivity by 13 per cent and can reduce the insulin response to a glucose load of 15 per cent.
Dr Jeukendrup said: "There is indirect evidence that the capacity to burn fat is related to various health benefits. An increased ability to burn fat may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
"The best way to increase the capacity to burn fat is by regular physical activity. Nutrition supplements, sold as 'fat burners', are often claimed to have these effects but most of them are ineffective. Therefore the findings of this study are very exciting. The green tea extract had substantial effects on fat oxidation. We now need to study this further and find out what doses are needed and what the clinical implications are for obese and diabetic patients."

The coffee thing is interesting but I think it only relates to real coffee and not frieze dried instant stuff as the process that is used to make it rids the coffee of these benefits.

Gats

skims

the missis drinks some tea not green tea but something similar you dont put milk or sugar in it though it effects the anti whatevers but normal tea also has the same things in it

ut_och_cykla

Not sure green tea is 'meant' to have milk in it. Milk in normal tea helps to mopp up the tannins in tea - not sure green tea has tannins in it. Other substances are less likely to be affected by milk.
High levels of coffeine promote release of fatty acids which are a energy source and can in theory help with fat loss (a big fave with body builders combined with long walks) but whether it really helps is another matter.
Some 'green teas' have natural stimulants in them adn depending on where you buy them from illegal ones too. Be wary -'' knowing'' you Gats you probably don't really need the help!

TheGreatGatsby

help with what? Weight loss? Surely everybody needs a little help? But aside form the fat burning stuff - which was initially why I was interested in it - the diabetes type 2 stuff and LDL cholestrol stuff is also of interest as my dad has type 2 and high cholestrol runs in the family. Last time I had a blood test they said I had a slightly elevated level of cholestrol which maybe due to too much fat in my diet! So before I go and get tested again I want to make sure everything is being taken care of.

Thought green tea instead of normal tea at work (I drink red bush at home) and real coffee instead of instant would be a good start.

Gats

buddha

I've been drinking green tea for years. Around 6 cups/day. But am still lardy on the midriff :oops:
Stay away from the tea bag version - as it's vile. The loose-leaf stuff is better IMO

Hudster

One tip for making green tea is that it doesn't like water on the boil like normal tea. Let the water go off the boil just as you would with coffee as you can scold the tea. This makes a big difference to the taste.

Obviously you should drink your tea how you like it, but I've never heard of milk in green tea and I am not really sure it would go. Green tea is quite a subtle flavour and milk would kill it in my opinion.

Cps

I've been getting my fix of Green tea and all its wonderous properties in a tablet form.

Saves having to drink the stuff!!!!

And seems to have done the trick for me -

Izembard

Sound foul to me but I'm willing to give it a whirl!

Can nayone recommend the best place to get this stuff and what are the brand names?

TheGreatGatsby

try Jacksons or Heath and Heather. I thin Also twinings do a range of green tea infusions where it sis mixed with various othe things like orange and lotus flower - which is minging y th way!

In Canada we used to get green tea Lattes whic were pretty good. I think Starbucks are doing them now. Just green tea but made with steamed milk and a dash of melon or vanilla syrup to take the edge off. Some places use this stuff called Macha green tea which is this weird powered stuff that smells like brocolli to make their Latte. The also dide green tea frappuccinos things.

I also found out that green tea is more to do with the metabolism of Visceral fat rather than subcutaneous. Its the fat that is around the organs of the body as a pose to the fat under the skin. My research could be wrong though. But the way I see it - fat is fat and if you can use it to ride harder then its worth a go!

Gats

kenbaxter

jpembroke wrote:

I believe there are numerous studies in to caffeine's effects on metabolism so does this mean that a decent cup of coffee will produce better results than green tea as it has more caffeine? Stick to espresso in the case.

The volume of real coffee I drink I should therefore be featherweight not 84 kilos! Either that or I'd better not stop drinking it

pjh

White tea is even better (Try 'Dragonfly' from sainsburys or Waitrose).

Definitely don't put milk in green or white tea ... there's been several articles saying that adding milk reduces the anti-oxidant benefits of tea