Hi all!
My friends, I want to tell you about green tea for weight loss, how to lose weight with green tea and what the effect of this can be.
Today they write a lot about this, so I decided to resort to this method and see for myself the effectiveness of the green tea diet.
Not long ago I had a very unpleasant situation and the consequences of stress, I ate a lot of sweets. The result was + 7 kg of excess weight.
I decided to lose weight, but in a way that would improve my nervous system and not strain myself too much and not make me hungry.
And I came to the conclusion that nothing would suit me better than the Japanese green tea diet.
What green tea to drink to lose weight
Leaf green tea can help you lose weight, and research has already proven it. This ability of green tea is explained by the fact that flavonoids and caffeine in the healthy drink speed up metabolism, increase fat oxidation and improve the activity of the pancreatic enzyme - insulin.
One study found that those who consumed green tea three times a day lost an average of 2 kilograms over a 12-week period while maintaining their normal lifestyle, including their diet and standard exercise routine. - 2 kg - only due to tea! Isn't it a great result?
You don't need to drink a lot of green tea to lose weight. While weight loss results vary depending on different diets and exercise, the ideal daily amount of green tea has been found to be 3 cups per day.
If you drink a certain type of green tea, you can lose weight faster than drinking other types of tea. Matcha green tea is recognized as the most effective in terms of weight loss - a rich source of nutrients and antioxidants.
According to registered dietitian Isabela Kmit, the explanation for this is that when making Matcha, the entire tea leaf is ground into powder after being picked and dried and then consumed as part of the drink. That is, by drinking this tea, you absorb the tea leaves whole, which means that much more useful substances enter your body: antioxidants and vitamins, unlike other (most) types of green tea, where the leaves are not crushed.
Real Matcha. Photo from the site www.mizubatea.com
Pros and cons of the tea diet
Pros of the tea diet:
- The diet does not require preparing complex dishes, which is very convenient.
- The diet cannot be called starvation, so it is comfortable to sit on it.
- Green tea is a source of vitamins and nutrients.
- Green tea perfectly strengthens tooth enamel without staining it dark, since the drink contains a lot of fluoride.
- A green tea diet can reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, normalize the functioning of the digestive system, and cleanse the liver.
- Green tea is a powerful antioxidant that the body needs so much.
The green tea diet has virtually no disadvantages, since it does not limit the diet and does not cut down too much on daily calories. The only disadvantage of the diet is the presence of a number of contraindications to it.
How does Matcha green tea work so you can lose weight?
Increases the rate of fat burning (thermogenesis)
A 2007 study published in the Clinical Journal of Nutrition of obese men concluded that a combination of caffeine and EGCG (a green tea antioxidant) increased the rate of fat burning by 33% before meals and up to 49% after meals!
In a similar study in 2008, subjects did additional physical activity. In the control group, people exercised every day for 40 minutes for 12 weeks. Additionally, they drank 3 cups of Matcha green tea (625 mg catechins and 39 mg caffeine) per day. Those who only exercised lost 1 kg, but those who drank green tea lost an average of 2.2 kg! In addition, the volume of the abdomen has also decreased. Those who did not have green tea catechins in their diet only lost 0.3% of their belly fat - those who took green tea catechins lost 7.7%! Therefore, if you want to lose weight more effectively using green tea, do not forget to include physical activity in your weight loss program.
Burns fat over a long period of time
Green tea may help you burn fat longer. A 1999 study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that green tea extract boosted metabolism more than caffeine. Thus, the duration of its effect on the body is longer, and accordingly more fat is burned.
Reduces the amount of fat contained
A 2010 study published in the journal Obesity revealed the effects of drinking high-catechin drinks on body weight. Compared with those who took a placebo, patients who drank green tea high in catechins experienced a decrease in body weight of up to 1.9 kg after three months, as well as a decrease in abdominal volume of 5.6 cm.
Matcha green tea has a very high level of catechins, and this, combined with a small amount of caffeine, indicates that it is even more effective in helping you lose excess weight.
Controls food cravings
Drinking Matcha green tea can help you feel full. This is because the antioxidant EGCG promotes the release of CCK, a gut hormone that tells the brain that the stomach is full. It also balances your blood sugar levels within a few hours so you don't feel like snacking for 3 hours.
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Has low calorie content
Many women today drink coffee to cheer up and recharge their batteries. Some people love cappuccino, latte or hot chocolate so much that they forget how many calories they consume with these drinks. Some of them contain more than 700 calories per 100 grams! At the same time, green tea is much richer in energy value for the body, while containing a minimal amount of calories. A cup of Matcha green tea contains only 3 calories. By the way, advice for latte lovers. If you use almond milk instead of regular milk, the calorie content of your drink will drop to 50-60 calories, but the taste will remain the same.
Has a diuretic effect
Matcha green tea has the ability to remove excess water from the body. So if you suffer from edema, or are prone to it, green tea can be a healthy alternative to your daily hot drink.
Helps maintain performance longer
Do you want to have more energy for work or sports? Drink a cup of green tea before your workout and you'll find that you'll be able to work out a little longer than usual today. A Japanese study found that those who consumed green tea extract not only lost more weight than those who did not consume it, but they were also able to increase their endurance by 8-24%. Among other things, less lactic acid was formed in the muscles after training.
Is safer than diet pills
Many diet pills and extraction pills use various thermogenic agents to increase the rate of fat burning. While they may have some effect on the rate at which you burn fat, they may also have other unwanted effects such as increased blood pressure, blood sugar and anxiety levels.
Green tea has excellent effects on heart health - it lowers blood pressure and opens the arteries, facilitating blood circulation.
Imperial drink in the service of Beauty
Green tea has long ceased to be a curiosity and is included in the daily diet of many people. When brewing another mug of our favorite drink, we remember that it is healthy, but we don’t forget how healthy it is!
In ancient China, the right to drink green tea for a long time was reserved only for members of the imperial family and members of the aristocracy. Then the “drink of Emperors” became the property of Chinese medicine due to its healing properties. The green elixir of health is able to quickly strengthen weakened immunity and restore vitality through cleansing the body.
Beneficial properties of the health elixir
The benefits of good green tea have been proven not only by thousands of years of use in medicine in various Eastern countries, but also by modern scientific research.
- Longevity. Japanese research has found a strong link between drinking green tea and longevity. Health is maintained by ensuring proper liver function (reducing the risk of obesity) and regular cleaning of blood vessels, as well as increasing their elasticity. If you want to live long, you should drink green tea.
- Grateful heart. Properly brewed green tea has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. The beneficial substances of the drink easily penetrate into the blood, cleansing blood vessels from dangerous deposits (removing cholesterol, excess fat), while toning the muscle tissue of the heart. As a result, it is possible to more successfully fight tachycardia, heart attacks and strokes, atherosclerosis and hypertension.
- Normalization of internal processes. Green tea is extremely useful for normalizing blood pressure, as well as the metabolic and digestive processes, which is why green tea promotes weight loss. In addition, the drink regulates the salt content in the body, promoting the elimination of excess.
Rich composition of green tea
Fifty thousand components are a worthy composition for a drink accessible to everyone. The benefits are provided by a rich vitamin complex (A and C, B1 and B2, PP and K), an abundance of substances necessary for the body (iodine and zinc, copper and potassium, fluorine and calcium, magnesium and phosphorus) and many beneficial organic compounds (theine, catechins, various minerals).
Green tea is especially beneficial due to:
- Theine is a mild analogue of caffeine, and therefore promotes a mild improvement in well-being. The drink should be drunk by people who need an additional source of vigor and good mood, as well as those who work with a large amount of information - the alkaloid perfectly activates brain activity.
- Catechins are powerful antioxidants, helping to cleanse the body at the cellular level (resisting cancer), removing toxins (cleaning blood vessels and tissues of internal organs), and saturating the body with polyphenols (increasing immunity).
- Minerals are the foundation of the body. Do you want your hair to shine, your teeth to remain white, and your nails to be strong and even? Try to drink green tea at least once a week.
How to choose quality Matcha tea
First, pay attention to the country of origin of green tea. Today, the highest quality Matcha variety is grown in Japan. This country has strict control standards regarding fertilizers - only natural fertilizers are added that do not have any harmful effect on the soil where tea is grown. Tea experts do not recommend buying Matcha from China. The industrial scale of tea production in China, unfortunately, affects the quality.
Secondly, remember that Matcha does not come cheap. This green variety is considered elite and cannot cost little. Its rich composition is due, among other things, to the complexity of its preparation and high labor costs. Tea is harvested only once a year, starting on the 88th day after the first day of spring.
Thirdly, look at the color of the tea. Sometimes unscrupulous tea sellers sell the ground variety of the cheaper Sencha and pass it off as Matcha. In this case, knowing the color of tea will help you. High-quality Matcha is bright green. And remember that this is powder!
Juice with pepper
Although berry and fruit juices contain many useful substances, they contribute to weight gain. After all, they contain no less sugar than soda. But tomato juice and other vegetable juices (with the exception of carrots) are a completely different matter. There is very little sugar in them. And if you add spices, it will be a real fat-burning mixture. The main additive is ground red pepper, it contains a lot of capsaicin. But you can add other types of pepper, as well as ground cloves, cardamom, star anise and other spices. Chopped and even dried herbs (basil, celery, dill, parsley, cilantro) and, of course, garlic work perfectly. For the base, tomato juice is best, but it would be good to add cucumber, beetroot, pumpkin, and cabbage juices to it. And of course, salt to taste won’t hurt.
Juice with spices. Photo: Shutterstock.com/ Olena Kaminetska
The correct way to brew green tea
When brewing green tea, there are several important rules to follow.
- Do not steep tea leaves with boiling water, as boiling water is harmful to the precious catechins (the beneficial chemicals in tea).
- Bring your water to a boil, but let it sit—rest for about ten minutes.
- Then pour the water into the tea and steep for about a minute before serving. Of course, the brewing time can be made shorter or longer, depending on your taste.
Green tea has many health benefits. It contains many nutrients, including antioxidants and anti-cancer compounds. One thing is for sure: drinking green tea can help you lose weight, whether you drink a lot of it often or just the recommended three cups a day.
But don't let your guard down, if you want to lose weight with green tea, don't put sugar in your mug!
If you don't like the taste of green tea, then you can consider other options for healthy types of tea that promote weight loss. For example, if you drink red rooibos instead of green tea, you can also lose weight effectively.
Side effects
In general, green tea is well tolerated and does not cause side effects at normal doses. Typically, sachets contain 1-2 g of crushed natural leaves. Tea-based nutritional supplements typically include a full range of nutritional elements.
According to research, EGCG intake should not exceed 800 mg, as nausea occurs at doses around 1200 mg. However, everything depends on the individual susceptibility of a person. In some cases, no side effects occurred even with a dose of 1800 mg.
If you're just starting to drink green tea, it's best to start with a low dose and increase over time as needed. It is a caffeinated stimulant and may cause problems sleeping.
