I love green tea, and drink it frequently. So, I was excited when I ran into a study from the University of Maryland Medical Center that found green tea may, in addition to cancer prevention and cholesterol control, boost metabolism and help burn fat. Also, researchers at Penn State University found that green tea and regular exercise boost fat-burning in mice.
Green tea provides a slight boost to your metabolism. We all know that slow metabolism makes you put on weight. Green tea has catechins which is a natural phenol and antioxidant. Both catechins and caffeine in green team have metabolism-boosting effects. Metabolism is the process by which your body turns food into energy. Caffeine promotes fat-burning by increasing heat production, and catechins seem to boost fat oxidation. According to a review published in the “American Journal of Physiology,” the two may work in tandem to boost metabolism.
Green tea catechins may have a larger role in the fat-burning effects of green tea than caffeine. A study published in “American Journal of Physiology” tested the effects of green tea extract on endurance and fat oxidation in mice. The study found that supplementation with green tea extract over 10 weeks led to an increase in endurance of 8 to 24 percent. They also found that green tea extract supplementation promoted increased use of fat as an energy source. In this study, the green tea extract used was equivalent to about 4 cups of green tea daily.
