Green Tea vs Oolong Tea - Part 3 - Benefits of Green Tea

<< Part 2 - Sources <<

Now that we know what types of green tea products we should aim to consume, let’s look at WHY you should drink green tea.

Are there any special reasons to drink green tea over your normal beverage or to supplement with green tea?

What are the benefits of consuming green tea and have they been proven by research?

Let's find out...

Benefits of Green Tea

Yes, there are a lot of different benefits that have been attributed to green tea through scientific research.

Let’s take a look at a few of the proven benefits of green tea…

[ Cholesterol ] It’s been found that green tea will lower the levels of bad cholesterol in the bloodstream of male smokers. Other studies have noted that males who drink green tea are more likely to have lower cholesterol than males who don’t drink green tea.

[ Ovarian Cancer ] It has been found that female green tea drinkers, who have ovarian cancer, will live longer. Drinking just one cup a day helped these women live longer than women with ovarian cancer that didn’t drink green tea.

[ Bladder Cancer ] One study found that women who drank green tea powder were less likely to get bladder cancer. The same people conducted another study on bladder cancer patients and concluded that those who drank green tea had a better survival rate, men in particular.

So green tea does look beneficial for sick and healthy individuals BUT what about the most sought after issue, weight loss!?

Studies have actually shown that green tea may help boost your metabolism and help you burn fat. Let’s take a look at what they’ve found.

[ Study #1 ]

There was a 90-day study conducted, by the Lipton Institute of Tea in China, on 182 Chinese participants, ages 18-55, which were “moderately overweight”.

They drank tea twice a day that contained different levels of catechins, antioxidants in tea, ranging from 30 mg to 900 mg. The control group’s drink contained no catechins. An average cup of green tea has anywhere from 50 mg to 100 mg of catechins in it.

Their body composition was measured each month to check the effects that the green tea had on them.

Those who drank green tea showed great progress by the end of the study, particularly the group that drank the highest amount of catechins.

They saw:

• Reduced Body Weight
• Reduced Waist circumference
• Reduced Intra-Abdominal Fat

These are very promising weight loss results attributed to green tea, especially if you drink 6 to 10 cups of green tea a day.

[ Study #2 ]

There was a 12 week study conducted on healthy Japanese men.

They were broken into two groups and were given a drink containing different levels of catechins based upon the group they were in. One group got an oolong tea drink, with added green tea extract, which contained 690 mg of catechins. The other group got a regular oolong tea drink with only 22 mg of catechins in it.

Those who drank the oolong tea drink “spiked” with green tea extract showed great progress by the end of the study.

They saw:

• Reduced Body Weight
• Reduced Body Mass Index
• Reduced Waist Circumference
• Reduced Body Fat Mass
• Reduced Subcutaneous Fat

So it appears that green tea extract helped boost weight loss capabilities once again! But, as with the other study, you’d have to drink on average 9 cups of green tea a day to see similar results. It wouldn’t be quite as hard if you were supplementing with green tea extract though.

[ Study #3 ]

There was a study that took place over a few days involving 12 healthy men.

On three different occasions they were each randomly given a different treatment to take at breakfast, lunch or dinner. One treatment contained a green tea extract with 50 mg of caffeine and 90 mg of epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG, which is a type of catechin. Another contained only the caffeine (50 mg) and the placebo had no EGCG or caffeine in it.

Those who consumed the green tea extract with EGCG in it saw great progress by the end of the study, but the placebo and caffeine drinkers didn’t see any effects.

They saw:

• Increased 24 hour calorie burning
• Increased 24 hour fat burning

So it seems that green tea extract combined with caffeine has a thermogenic effects and can help you burn fat! I’m glad to see that these results were attained without a high dosage of catechins needed. You could get 90 mg of catechins in one cup of green tea, which would contain both EGCG and caffeine.

So it appears that drinking green tea or supplementing with green tea can be very beneficial in helping you lose weight. I’m very happy that there are some weight loss supplements out there that actually have studies that back their claims.

Let’s move on.

>> Continue Reading - Part 4 - Benefits of Oolong Tea >>