FITNESS MYTHS: KEEP CALM AND DRINK GREEN TEA

In the top of most well-known fitness myths also is present Green tea. It is considered to be very effective for weight loss and that it can increase a speed of burning fat. Is Green Tea a “must have” product for your diet? You can believe in FACTS that are confirmed in scientific journals with high IF (impact factor, citation factor). I will give you such facts from scientific articles that provide results of preclinical (on cells, mice) and clinical studies (on people with obesity) to show you “What is Myth, and What is True?”

So, let’s speak about myth, that “green tea can burn fat”.

At first, “What Green tea is like”? Green tea is the type of tea made from herb (Camellia sinensis) that is processed using sun- or oven-drying methods. However, green tea is less oxidised or «fermented» as Black tea. In this way, Green tea contains a greater quantity of healthy and essential components. Green tea as a herb contains two major active ingredients: 1) catechin, 2) caffeine [1]. The best Choice for Green tea will be some Chinese, Large Leaf Tea.

Interesting fact*: Standard cup (250 ml) of green tea contains 100-300 mg of catechin, 50-90 mg of caffeine. Standard cup (250 ml) of coffee contains 95-160 mg of caffeine [2]. Thus, a statement that green tea contains more caffeine than coffee is not entirely truthful. However, high-quality green tea can contain an equal amount of caffeine as in coffee.

Although, green tea still contains an additional component that is catechin. There are exist many hypotheses that catechin or catechin + caffeine are effective as fat-burners. What preclinical and clinical results have shown? It was proved that catechin acts better without caffeine [5]. Therefore, the main active ingredient of green tea is catechin, which is interesting as a fitness supplement.

The laziest people want to lay on the couch during their weight loss. Suddenly, scientists decided to test it. Is green tea effective at REST?

Confirmed fact 1: High dose of green tea extract + hypocaloric diet increased the effectiveness of fat oxidation on 103±13 g per day in short-term 24-hours clinical study. And, in long-term 12 weeks-study patients with green tea extract showed on 1.31 kg more loss of body weight compared to control group (just diet) [1, 5].

Other people think that diet and supplements act better with physical activities. That is why there were conducted many different experiments on the effectiveness of green tea. Is green tea more effective in combination with exercises?

Confirmed fact 2: a Synergic action of green tea + exercises (light, moderate, and highly insensitive or interval training) were studied [3, 4]. Consumption of green tea alone did not show significant results compared to results discovered by using Green tea & Exercise. Green tea increased post-workout fat oxidation from 24 to 29% in short studies with interval training (like “Tabata”) [3].

Oh, of course, everyone wants the quick effect. What is the “formula of Successes” in your fast weight loss? In preclinical and clinical studies, possible mechanism of green tea in “fat-burning” was showed in first 24 hours.

Confirmed fact 3: Fast effect! Such parameter, as the effectiveness of metabolism (exercise test), was calculated in experiments with people. After intensive training, doctors measured the volume of maximal oxygen consumption of patients (inhaled and exhaled air, VO₂ max). It showed the presence of fermentation, and especially, fat-oxidation reactions. It means that green tea has boost effect on the effectiveness of metabolism. In high doses (120 mg, 3 times per day) green tea acts on hormone epinephrine, that activates enzymes (mainly, catechol-O-methyl-transferase) during first 24 hours. In addition, green tea has a moderate effect on leptin or “satiety hormone”, so it can reduce appetite [1, 2].

Moreover, there are people who do everything slowly, consistently and thoroughly to get better and stable results. In 12-weeks studies possible mechanism of green tea in “fat-burning” also was shown.

Confirmed fact 4: Slow effect! It was examined in mice. Green tea extract (catechin) increased the whole-body fat utilisation by influence on specific genes. It increases the activity of lipolytic genes in skeletal muscles (fermentation of fat), and decrease lipogenic genes in liver (deposition of fat) [1, 5, 4]. Therefore, green tea takes part in the great deconstruction of metabolism.

Maybe you will be surprised. However, it is important do not forget about diversity! The same dinner, the same exercise and the same green tea can become “boring” not only for you but can become “boring” for your organism. This phenomenon has a scientific confirmation!

Important fact 5: Metabolic adaptation. This effect means that your organism gets accustomed to a high level of stress and find the way for stabilising itself, and again slow the metabolism. That is not good for weight loss. Sometimes, high doses of green tea extract cause a metabolic adaptation in mice organisms after 12 weeks. Therefore, experts give advises to variate condition, such as intensity of exercises and composition your daily menu [1, 4].

Now, I like green tea more than before. Nevertheless, everything is good for us, if it is reasonable quantities. I believe that healthy eating can be and should be the combination of Good sense and Good taste. I hope you know what I meant. 🙂

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References:

1. Auvichayapat P., Prapochanung M. “Effectiveness of green tea on weight reduction in obese Thais: A randomized, controlled trial”, 2007, Physiology & Behavior.
2. Cardoso G.A., Salgado J.M., “The Effects of Green Tea Consumption and Resistance Training on Body Composition and Resting Metabolic Rate in Overweight or Obese Women”, J Med Food 00 (0) 2012, 1–8.
3. Gahreman D., Wang R., Boutcher Y., “Green Tea, Intermittent Sprinting Exercise, and Fat Oxidation”, Nutrients 2015, 7, 5646-5663.
4. Ichinose T., Nomura S., Someya Y., “Effect of endurance training supplemented with green tea extract on substrate metabolism during exercise in humans”, Scand J Med Sci Sports 2011: 21: 598–605.
5. Jeukendrup A. E., Randell R., “Fat burners: nutrition supplements that increase fat metabolism” obesity reviews © 2011 International Association for the Study of Obesity 12, 841–851.