There may be a very few people in this world who are interested in losing weight but haven’t heard of green tea for inducing the cause.
Green tea has in the recent years become all the rage but the consumption of green tea is absolutely not a new phenomenon but a very ancient one that dates back to about 4000 years in the Asian countries.
You may have read about it”s amazing benefits all over the internet or in some magazines or may have heard about it from someone but have you ever wondered that is it really worth the hype?
Does it really contribute to weight loss in a magical way?
Or maybe you have been drinking it for quite some time but not getting the desired results as you thought you would whatsoever…..
In this article, I will minutely address all these questions in a fluid manner and also provide you with the ultimate guide for consuming green tea for losing weight.
WHAT”S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GREEN TEA AND NORMAL TEA BLACK TEA?
Green tea just like the black tea is obtained from the same source but unlike them do not undergo the process of further oxidation and withering processes.
- Green tea is simply made by the steaming and drying of the tea leaves soon after harvest.
Whereas the black tea undergoes further crushing after getting dried which causes it to convert the simpler catechins of the tea to complicated compounds that provide the tea its color and flavor.
- Unlike green teas, which turn bitter when brewed at higher temperatures, black tea should be steeped in water brought up to 90–95 °C
So,
Does it really worth the hype?
Yes, it certainly does.
Green tea can help you lose weight
I myself is it”s one ideal example.
- How fast you can lose weight using this wonderful drink tends to depend on your lifestyle and diet.
If you are really sincere about losing some pounds then commit yourself to make some tweaks in your all over diet plan and try to introduce some training regime in your everyday life.
Exercising coupling with following a healthy diet that suits you besides regularly drinking green tea will fetch you good results in no time.
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- Green tea consists of a huge amount of antioxidants and a lot of other essential things like caffeine and minerals.
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- Catechin, responsible for the antioxidant properties of the green leaves, is one of its most essential components.
- Many studies have shown that the flavonoids and caffeine in green tea can help elevate metabolic rate, increase fat oxidation and even improve insulin activity.
So,
What are the basic health benefits of green tea that makes it so valuable for losing weight?
1. Green tea and abdominal fat:
Green tea mainly helps in trimming the chubby fat of the abdominal area thus helping in reducing the visceral fat.
Visceral fat is regarded as the reason for many troublesome diseases and even also for early death.
It is also the fact that is regarded as the most annoying kind of fat in the body
It is also one of the first places to start showing weight gain symptoms.
2. Boosts metabolism immensely:
The combination of catechins and caffeine works miraculously in boosting the body metabolism not in the short term but also for the long run.
3. Helps in keeping you fit overall:
Green tea helps in charging your body with a massive dose of beneficial ingredients that enhance your all over body performance and also lowers the chances of occurrence of many foul diseases.
It omits the chances of the risk of obesity and many studies have shown that it helps in enhancing the life expectancy by keeping the body fit overall.
Also Read: Benefits of green tea you haven”t heard before
How much green tea should you drink every day for obtaining desired results?
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center generally drinking about 2 to 3 cups of green tea per day is sufficient, provided each of those cups contains about 200 milligrams of catechins.
What is the best time to drink Green Tea?
- Well, there is no hard and fine rule to drink green tea at a particular time of the day but generally, it works best to drink it in between having meals rather than having it with them.
- Many consider that starting your day off at the early morning with a blast of a warm cup of green tea can be a great idea as your body metabolism remains highest at that point of the day.
So boosting it with a load of antioxidants and Polyphemus is indeed a great idea.
[P.S.: Many studies have shown that is is not advisable to drink green tea the very first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It causes damage to the liver. What I did was to consume some light breakfast first then consume it].
It is good to drink green tea in the evening too because that’s when your metabolism tends to dip, so this could be your last shot to prolong your dipping metabolism.
[P.S.: People who have sleep issues should avoid a cup later in the evening, as the caffeine intake may pose a problem with their sleep].
Recap:
- Best Time To Drink Green Tea:
- Not in an empty stomach in the morning
- Roughly two hours before or after a big meal
- At least three hours before going to bed.
2.Daily Limit: Four cups a day is the limit. Any more than that will do more harm than any good.
3. In case you suffer from any health issues then always consult with your doctor before starting to use it.
Regular Consumption of the green tea coupled With Exercise aids Weight Loss.
Chances are you must have people all over the internet telling you, this stunning diet is the best to lose weight..that miraculous diet can make you lose 10 pounds a week and stuff…
Maybe they work…maybe they don’t.
I never felt the need to introduce any kind of new diet plan in my life to lose the extra weight out of my body.
I just introduced some tweaks to my everyday lifestyle and added some healthy touches to my existing diet plan.
So it is important to have all the needed information and to use them by optimizing those data as per your own schedule and lifestyle than trying to follow any particular weight loss plan or diet blindly.
We all are different.
What worked for one person may not work for you.
But you sure can take some of the positive inputs of that study into your own life for getting fruitful results.
It is not that hard to do.
Just needs a bit of smartness coupled with some knowledge on the topic.
How much Green Tea should you drink every day?
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, having about 2 to 3 cups of green tea is quite enough for losing weight.
However, this also depends upon the brand and brewing techniques that how much of the polyphenols are really getting within your body.
Getting 240 to 320 milligrams of polyphenols each day — the amount in 2 to 3 cups is considered as optimum.
I in my weight loss journey used to have two cups of Lipton green tea every day- once a few hours before lunch and once in the evening.
And this did the trick for me along with a lot of other simple tweaks and habit changes.
[P.S: People suffering from any serious diseases like Stomach cancer, oral cancer, etc or health issues like heart diseases, pregnancy, high blood pressure should have a word about the optimum amount of their green tea intake with their doctors].
Effects of overconsumption of green tea :
Excessive of any good thing does more harm than good.
It is true even in case of this wonder drink too.
Many can easily think that as green tea has all the magic for losing weight it can be drunk frequently a day.
It will do more harm than any good.
Why?
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1. It is rich in caffeine which when gets into the body in large amounts can cause sleeplessness, restlessness, headache, dizziness, etc.
A large amount of caffeine intake can also cause osteoporosis i.e, loss of calcium through the urine thus weakening the bones in the longer run.
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2. Stomach upset:
Too much caffeine triggers the oversecretion of the acids involved in the digestion process that in turn can cause stomach upset or pain.
It even sometimes can cause diarrhea.
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3. Liver problems:
The catechins in green tea deliver huge benefits like lowered cholesterol and reduced risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. But if taken in high doses, especially similar to the dosage in weight loss supplements, these catechins cause liver toxicity.
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4. Additionally, it can also cause serious pressure over the kidney and cause kidney damages.
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5. Effects the teeth as tannins are present in them and it causes loss of calcium hence the teeth can get affected.
Don’t get alarmed by going through all these side effects of over-consumption of green tea because when I came to know of these things I did got a bit alarmed.
But then I realized that all good things, when used in a wrong way, can do more harm than good.
- When instead of 2 or 3 cups, 6 or 7 cups are getting consumed then that will not only have no positive effect on weight loss but will exert an allover negative effect on the body.
So just remember these few things regarding green tea usage and you will be completely fine.
Types of Green Tea:
Green tea is available in many types, including:
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- bottled and sweetened with sugar or an artificial sweetener
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- in single tea bags
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- as loose-leaf
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- in instant-powder
- green tea supplements, which are sold in capsule form or liquid extracts
According to 2010 research presented at the American Chemical Society, bottled teas are not as good as the brewed teas. Many kinds of research show that 16 ounces of bottled teas can have fewer polyphenols than one cup of brewed tea.
How to drink green tea for losing weight
The most effective way of losing weight is doing exercises coupled with drinking of green tea.
Believe me, even I thought all this was maybe just a hype and as usual, won’t fetch me the desired results.
Never have I ever been so happy to be wrong.
I started to feel changes in my body just a few days and considerably started to notice some physical changes in just a few weeks.
The most important thing in using green tea for losing weight I feel is the way of correctly drinking green tea in a proper way in order to maximally yield it”s benefits.
1. USE FRESH COLD WATER
If you are using bottled water for making the tea then thoroughly shake the bottle to oxygenate the water.
Why?
The oxygen in the water will help in ensuring a good flavor of the tea leaf and thus in properly blossoming its all benefits.
Also, remember to use only soft water{in which only sodium is present as an ion} and not hard water{ water full of minerals and ions} as it can cause damage to the sensitive ingredients.
2. IDEAL TEMPERATURE:
The proper method of preparation involves the safe preservation and no destruction of the precious polyphenols.
This can be easily achieved by preparing the tea at a temperature of 160-180 ºF (70-82 ºC). Many of us including me started making a pot of green tea steeping it at boiling water.
Do not use boiling water to steep the tea in!
The boiling water or at 100-degree Celsius the sensitive catechins get destroyed and also results in a bitter taste of the tea.
Before adding the green tea in the water, rest the boiling water for about ten minutes.
let it brew for a minute before pulling out the leaves and serving them. Depending on your taste, this brew time can be made longer or shorter.
3. STEEPING TIME:
This totally depends upon the brand and type of green tea you are consuming.
Generally what I did was steeped it for about two to three minutes and then tasting it and then further made the decision on whether to steep more or not.
Steeping for two to four minutes is enough to give you all of the health benefits of green tea.
Generally, the flavor changes owing to steeping and if you taste it every 30 seconds you do will notice it.
Try both longer and shorter steeping times and see which you prefer.
4. GO FOR UNFLAVOURED ONES:
Green tea is best on its own without sugar, dairy, or any added ‘natural flavors’.
To maximize the health benefits, you can also enjoy green tea with citrus such as a squeeze of lemon juice. Vitamin C in the citrus will help your body absorb the catechins.
You can also add other natural aromatic herbs such as ginger, jasmine, basil, etc to enjoy a soothing green tea experience.
5. BREWING CONTAINER:
In addition, never heat the water in an aluminum tea kettle, or steep it in a plastic or aluminum container.
Better options include stainless steel which is nonreactive and won’t induce any flavor changes or worse any toxic residues.
[P.S. If you are prone to the caffeine content of green tea and somehow want to avoid it then use a decaffeinated green tea extract with 400 mg of ECCG. It will also work in the same way of treating body fat].
By these way,s you can make the perfect green tea by keeping the precious ingredients intact and also can start to see the sweet benefit in a few weeks time.
If you loved reading this post then feel free to leave a comment below to share your queries on losing weight…
I will be more than happy to help…
Cheers.