“Lose weight by drinking green tea” is a common idea nowdays. It is used by many green tea making companies. It shows various tags with it like – Best for weight loss, fat-burner, rich in anti-oxidants (this one is true) etc.
But what about these other two tags associated with it which make people say Lose weight by drinking green tea? Let’s find out
What makes green tea special?
I think before we move any further, we must first know about the composition of green tea.
According to NCBI,
The chemical composition of green tea is complex: proteins (15-20% dry weight), whose enzymes constitute an important fraction; amino acids (1-4% dry weight) such as theanine or 5-N-ethylglutamine, glutamic acid, tryptophan, glycine, serine, aspartic acid, tyrosine, valine, leucine, threonine, arginine, and lysine; carbohydrates (5-7% dry weight) such as cellulose, pectins, glucose, fructose, and sucrose; minerals and trace elements (5% dry weight) such as calcium, magnesium, chromium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, selenium, sodium, phosphorus, cobalt, strontium, nickel, potassium, fluorine, and aluminum
Now as you can see, there is a lot of nutritional content in Green tea. However, we’ll focus on a specific type of potent antioxidant called EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) which is a major antioxidant found in green tea.
So what does this EGCG do?
There are many benefits of this antioxidant like reduced inflammation, protection against cellular damage caused by free radicals, and many more. But here, we’re going to talk about one specific benefit of this antioxidant because of which Green tea is related to causing weight loss.
And that benefit is increasing metabolism rate!!
I think now the question has to be changed.
Does increasing metabolism by green tea result in weight loss?
Well, if we see the data, it is clear that metabolism plays a role in weight loss.
But there’s a catch.
This metabolism-boosting benefit of green tea is not reaped by everyone. Some do and some don’t.
Moreover, even the people who do get this metabolism benefit, only burn a mere 3-4% calories (which is typically 60-80 kcal) more than average. In some cases, the percentage goes up to 8% but not more than that.
Also, you see when a question is related to weight loss, the answer is never Black or White or Yes or No.
What I am trying to stay here is that instead of drinking green tea or any other “Weight loss causing” food, first figure out whether you are in a calorie deficit or not. Because no matter what you do, at the end of the day, that is what matters. Because, if you’re not in a calorie deficit, you just won’t lose weight.
So, green tea can aid weight loss but not cause it in the first place.
It is as simple as that.
Conclusion
I will conclude this post with this statement – Have green tea for its various other benefits, but not have it only because you think that it’s going to lose you weight. It will only aid your journey of weight loss, not cause it.
OK, I think I’ve disheartened many green tea lovers till now.
But you know what, you should still have it.
Why?
Because if you leave it just because you are not able to lose weight from that, then you’ll be missing on a lot of its other benefits like –
- Improved brain function
- Protection against cancer
- Lowered risk of heart disease
- Reduced bad breath
You see, these are some really good benefits of green tea. And you certainly shouldn’t miss out on those!!
Check out the below post to know the secret behind weight loss!!
