When the Chinese emperor accidentally dropped tea leaves into hot water back in 2737 BC he had no idea that the beverage he would create would have so many health benefits. Packed with polyphenols, Green Tea has many positive benefits including the ability to boost calorie and fat burn.
Love it or hate it, green tea is one of the most popular and widely known beverages in the world. Worldwide, tea drinkers are thought to consume 600,000 tons of it yearly. And, demand only continues to grow as people become more interested in functional foods and beverages that provide health benefits above and beyond typical fare.
Green tea has also been a key part of traditional medicine in Asia for hundreds—if not thousands—of years. That’s because, even in the distant past, people were able to recognize the many health benefits that the brew offered.
With the advent of modern science, we now know what’s in green tea at a molecular level and how these compounds can benefit our health. Green tea is full of bioactive compounds that provide a whole host of benefits—like reducing inflammation, increasing focus, and relieving stress.
Green tea also has some interesting effects on body composition. Research points to its positive effects on fat-burning capacity, exercise, and stress reduction.
What is green tea?
Green tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. It’s made by drying the leaves without allowing them to age - in fact, aging the leaves is how black tea is made.
The beverage was invented in China, and it’s thought that the first cup was brewed in the year 2737 BC after an emperor accidentally dropped some tea leaves into a cup of hot water. A few minutes later, he took a sip without realizing what had happened. He found the drink extremely refreshing, and thus green tea was born.
Since then, green tea has been a key part of not only Chinese culture, but also traditional Chinese medicine and other types of herbal medicine. The reason it’s been used as a natural medicine for so long, we are now learning, is that it is loaded with polyphenols—plant chemicals—that give it its many health benefits. The key polyphenols in green tea are:
Caffeine: Green tea contains a small amount of caffeine, which provides some health benefits in moderation despite the controversy surrounding it. What’s interesting is that caffeine seems to work synergistically with other compounds in green tea, providing stronger effects than each compound can provide separately.
Catechins: Catechins are compounds that are fairly unique to green tea. The primary catechin in green tea is called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), and a cup of green tea provides about 200 milligrams of the stuff. Most of the benefits of green tea are derived from EGCG and other catechins, and they’re a major focal point of green tea research.
L-theanine: L-theanine is a type of amino acid, or building block of protein, that’s found in plants. Green tea is a rich source of it. While l-theanine and caffeine on their own both have some modest health effects, they work best together—and green tea provides the ideal ratio of both of these powerhouse compounds.
Antioxidants: Antioxidants are health-boosting compounds that help neutralize free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can damage your cells when there are too many of them. Free radicals cause damage referred to as oxidative stress, hence the name “antioxidants.”
How green tea may improve your body composition
In addition to its many other benefits, green tea may promote a healthy body composition—particularly in regards to body fat.
Natural “fat burner”
Several products are marketed as fat burners or metabolism boosters, but very few have any data to support these claims. However, both caffeine and green tea have scientific evidence to support this use. Studies have shown that they can boost fat burn and energy expenditure, or the number of calories you burn.
One study noted that, after 12 weeks, those consuming green tea daily had more weight loss than a control group that didn’t have any tea—and they were eating the exact same diet. Additionally, the green tea group burned an extra 44 calories per day on average.
However, this effect of green tea is certainly not enough to make a huge difference for your body composition if you’re not also leading a healthy lifestyle.
Increases positive effects of exercise
When paired with exercise, green tea seems to exhibit powerful effects.
One study found that overweight women who took green tea extract and did endurance training (cardio) lost more weight than women who just exercised and had significantly lower levels of inflammatory markers. This suggests that green tea may boost the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise.
Another study, which investigated green tea consumption and strength training, found that women who did both experienced significant increases in their lean mass, muscle strength, and resting metabolic rate (the number of calories burned at rest) compared to women who just drank green tea, women who just exercised, and women who did neither.
The green tea plus resistance training group also saw decreases in their body fat, triglyceride levels, and waist circumference compared to those who only exercised.
These findings suggest that green tea magnifies the positive effects of exercise, making physical activity even more beneficial.
May help reduce stress
Finally, green tea may reduce stress—thanks to the L-theanine it contains. Stress reduction is great for your overall well-being, as stress keeps you in a constant “fight or flight” state. High-stress individuals are more susceptible to illness and more likely to experience it severely. They’re unlikely to get enough high-quality sleep, and they may have blood pressure regulation problems, which can lead to heart trouble. They may have weak and brittle hair and nails, as well as unhealthy skin. People who are chronically stressed may also be dealing with fatigue, brain fog, and depression.
Stress can affect your body composition, too. High levels of cortisol—the stress hormone—promote the storage of visceral fat (belly fat), which increases your risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers.
Experts recommend 3-5 cups of green tea daily to experience the many benefits it has to offer. And don’t worry too much about the caffeine content: although it does contain caffeine, it contains much less than coffee!
So, although green tea is packed with benefits, it’s not a magic pill. It can help you achieve your goals when paired with a healthy lifestyle and proactive health monitoring—like a DEXA scan to assess your fat mass and fat-free mass. The DEXA scan can also reveal how much harmful fat you’re carrying in your midsection,information that can be used as a starting point to implement some healthy lifestyle changes.
Ready to take the next step? Brew up a mug of green tea and learn more about the benefits of body composition and metabolic testing at Fitnescity.
Sources: