Green Tea Sampler Benefits

Giving green tea as a gift is a great idea in a tea sampler. Green Tea is a popular form of tea. Like other teas, it has many health benefits, the most well known being weight loss.

There are two ways to lose weight. Either reduce energy intake, or increase energy expenditure. In a study reported on in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that green tea extract resulted in a significant increase in energy expenditure (a measure of metabolism), plus also had a significant effect on fat oxidation. While some of the effects were originally theorized to be due to the caffeine content of green tea, the researchers discovered that the tea actually has properties that go beyond those that would be explained by the caffeine. The same amount of caffeine as was in the green tea, administered alone, failed to change energy expenditure in other studies. This led researchers to believe that there is some interaction going on with the active ingredients of green tea that promotes increased metabolism and fat oxidation.

Research by Japanese and other researchers suggest that if the average person were to drink five cups of green tea a day, they would burn an extra 70 to 80 extra calories through an effect known as thermogenesis - the process of heat production in organisms. While much of the thermogenesis effect in green tea is derived from caffeine, studies also suggest) that thermogenesis in green tea occurs to some degree beyond its caffeine content from epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG.) This helps burn an extra 70 calories per day which amounts to 7 pounds per year.

There are three main varieties of tea: green, black, and oolong. The difference between the teas is in their processing. Green tea is made from unfermented leaves and reportedly contains the highest concentration of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols.

Drinking green tea alone is not going to be satisfactory for significant weight loss. Still, green tea can still be quite useful as a weight loss aid. The extra 80 calories per day can be just what a person needs to tip the scale from a calorie surplus to a calorie deficit, especially when following a balanced nutrition and exercise regime.

Green tea is recommended as a complement to a sound nutrition and exercise regime, not only for the slight metabolism boost it gives, but more importantly for the many other documented health benefits. Whether you drink it before or after a meal is irrelevant. What matters is drinking it daily, preferably several cups a day.

 

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