How Green Tea Benefits Weight Loss

Green tea contains many health benefits, including weight loss. The most effective means of losing weight is by reducing calorie intake and increasing physical exercise. The easiest way to reduce calorie intake is by substituting high-calorie foods or beverages for low-calorie ones. Green tea is a perfect substitute for other beverages. Green tea can also be used for making soup broths and sauces.

But overweight patients that consume drinks high in sweeteners and preservatives may feel too sluggish to exercise. Diet sodas, even though they do not contain sugar, have been proven to stimulate a person’s food cravings. By substituting green tea for coffee, soda or other drinks, dieters can gain energy and reduce food cravings. This helps to create a gradual weight loss recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for not only losing weight, but keeping it off permanently.

Green Tea and Caffeine

Green tea includes caffeine, but nowhere near as much as much as for conventional black tea. The caffeine content of green tea varies considering how long the tea is steeped. The average amount of caffeine in a cup of green tea is 20 milligrams. Contrast this to the caffeine in a glass of cola – about 46 milligrams. Decaffeinated green loose tea and tea bags are commercially available for those who cannot tolerate any caffeine.

A small amount of caffeine such as 20 milligrams per cup can help give a person just enough energy to get through daily tasks and moderate exercise without getting so wired that they cannot sleep. Lack of sleep is a big problem for anyone trying to adjust to a new exercise program. The temptation to stay in bed is incredibly strong. Switching to green tea can help better regulate sleep patterns.

Caffeine is also a diuretic, or makes the body urinate more often. This can help flush out any excess water weight a dieter may be carrying. Women are especially prone to carrying up to five pounds of excess water weight depending on what point of their menstrual cycle they are in. Losing excess water weight during the pre-menstrual phase can also help decrease cramps.

Other Green Tea Benefits

Unlike diet sodas or alcoholic beverages, green tea does not stimulate cravings for salty or greasy foods which can sabotage a diet. One of the biggest green tea weight loss benefits is suppressing a person’s appetite. Green tea will not make a person anorexic. It will not shut off a person’s appetite altogether. For a dieter, any appetite decrease is welcome.

Another weight loss benefit of green tea is that it stimulates the body’s ability to burn off calories by transforming it into body heat and a more through digesting process, which extracts more energy and nutrients from food. This process is called thermogeneisis. Studies on animals found that those given a regular dose of green tea or green tea extract had an increase up to 77% of thermogenesis in their bodies.

In conclusion, green tea contains many benefits for those seeking safe, permanent weight loss solutions. It is a low calorie drink that helps reduce food cravings and give dieters more energy to exercise.