Green tea is one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.
It is loaded with antioxidants and various plant compounds that may benefit your health.
Some people even claim that green tea can increase fat burning and help you lose weight.
This article examines the evidence surrounding green tea and weight loss.
Contains Substances That Can Help You Lose Fat
Tea leaves contain many beneficial compounds.
One of green tea’s compounds is caffeine. Although a cup of green tea holds much less caffeine (24–40 mg) than a cup of coffee (100–200 mg), it still contains enough to have a mild effect.
Caffeine is a well-known stimulant that has been found to aid fat burning and improve exercise performance in numerous studies (1Trusted Source, 2).
However, green tea really shines in its antioxidant content. Studies show that drinking a cup of green tea increases the amount of antioxidants in your bloodstream (3).
This healthy beverage is loaded with potent antioxidants called catechins (4).
The most important of these is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a substance that can boost metabolism.
Although one cup of green tea may raise your antioxidant levels, most studies have examined the benefits of green tea extract — which is a concentrated source of catechins.
Can Mobilize Fat From Fat Cells
To burn fat, your body must first break it down in the fat cell and move it into your bloodstream.
Animal studies suggest that the active compounds in green tea can aid this process by boosting the effects of some fat-burning hormones, such as norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
The main antioxidant in tea, EGCG, can help inhibit an enzyme that breaks down the hormone norepinephrine (5Trusted Source).
When this enzyme is inhibited, the amount of norepinephrine increases, promoting fat breakdown (6).
In fact, caffeine and EGCG — both of which are found naturally in green tea — may have a synergistic effect (7Trusted Source).
Ultimately, your fat cell breaks down more fat, which is released into your bloodstream for use as energy by cells like muscle cells.
Increases Fat Burning, Especially During Exercise
If you look at the label of almost every commercial weight loss and fat-burning supplement, you will likely see green tea listed as an ingredient.
This is because green tea extract has been repeatedly linked to increased fat burning, especially during exercise.
In one study, men who took green tea extract before exercise burned 17% more fat than men who didn’t take the supplement. The study suggests that green tea can boost the fat-burning effects of exercise (8Trusted Source).
An eight-week study determined that tea catechins increased fat burning, both during exercise and rest (9).
Several other studies confirm these findings, indicating that EGCG boosts the burning of fat — which may lead to reduced body fat in the long term (10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).
Boosts Your Metabolic Rate
Your body is constantly burning calories.
Even when you’re sleeping or sitting down, your cells are performing millions of functions that require energy.
Several studies suggest that taking green tea extract or EGCG supplements can make you burn more calories — even at rest.
In most studies, this amounts to about a 3–4% increase, although some show an increase as high as 8% (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source).
For a person who burns 2,000 calories per day, 3–4% amounts to an additional 60–80 calories spent per day — similar to what you might expect from a high-protein diet.
Although most of these studies were very short in duration, some evidence suggests that the metabolism-boosting effect persists in the long term (15Trusted Source, 16Trusted Source).
In one study in 60 obese individuals, those taking green tea extract lost 7.3 more pounds (3.3 kg) and burned 183 more calories per day after three months than those not taking the extract (17Trusted Source).
However, not all studies show that green tea extract boosts metabolism. The effect may depend on the individual (18Trusted Source). Read more
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