This entry was posted 11 years, 7 months ago.
It can be very hard for some of us to stop consuming fatty foods, especially when we are talking about not healthy fats. Can you imagine your daily diet without bacon, pasta with cheese dressing, various pizzas, cream-based soups, stews, cakes or pies, eskimo ice cream, and so on? And what about burritos, empanadas, frito pies, and other ‘diamonds’ of Mexican cuisine which is so extremely popular nowadays? Sometimes it is really hard to resist, and that’s why more and more of us are forced to fight against extra weight after having pretty much unhealthy waistline or too many extra pounds on the hips. Can something be of help to those who are overweight but still have hopes to normalize their body mass?
It is green tea. Well, do not hope for a miracle and do not think that by only drinking 10 cups of green tea a day (without supporting this with a healthy diet and plenty of exercise) you will manage to lower your BMI. However, according to the findings of specialists at Penn State University in the US, it is possible to slow down weight gain by drinking several cups of high quality green tea a day, and this works good for those who are already overweight. These properties and benefits of green tea are attributed to a special compound, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which can slow down weight gain even in case of using a high-fat diet.
During the experiments, a group of experts led by Dr Joshua Lambert worked with obese mice. The rodents were kept on a high-fat diet, and the group which was given EGCG compound demonstrated about 45 per cent slower weight gain compared to the other control group fed on the same type of diet. Later on, the scientists found out that the group fed with EGCG supplement absorbed about 30 per cent smaller amounts of fat than the control group. At the same time, there was no evidence found that green tea components can suppress appetite.
The scientists say that in order to receive an equivalent amount of EGCG, one should consume about 10 cups of green tea a day. However, 10 cups of green tea a day is way too dangerous amount, which can seriously harm a person’s health. Therefore, to enjoy the benefits of green tea, it is enough to drink just several cups a day. ‘Human data – and there’s not a lot at this point – shows that tea drinkers who only consume one or more cups a day will see effects on body weight compared to non-consumers,’ Dr Lambert says. Read more about the findings of this research in the latest issue of the online journal Obesity.
Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.
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