Tag Archives: Green Tea

Add Tea to Your Fat Loss Diet

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An article in the journal Obesity reported the findings of Chinese scientists who noticed improvements in weight and body composition in men and women who consumed green tea that contained high amounts of catechins.

Researchers at Fudan University divided 182 moderately overweight Chinese men and women to receive beverages containing varying amounts of catechins for 90 days.  By the end of the study, total body fat and body fat percentage were lower in the group that received the highest amount of catechins compared to the control group.  In the highest catechin group, intra-abdominal fat area and weight were lower, and waist circumference averaged 1.9 centimeters less than those who received the control beverage.

“In this latest research, green tea providing significant catechin levels helped promote weight loss and positively affected body shape,”  lead researcher Dr. Niels Boon concluded.

You can get my recommendation for green tea capsules here.

Is Wu-Yi Tea Good for a Fat Loss Diet?

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I got a note recently from a reader asking about Wu-Yi Tea:

“What’s up with this Wu-Yi Tea?  I see it everywhere online!  Does it work?”

Wu-Yi tea is the same as another tea on the market, Wu-Long…which is a marketing spin on the word Oolong, a tea that you have probably heard of before.  The claims made by these teas are based on one Japanese study where energy expenditure was measured for 120 minutes after consumption of both oolong and green teas.  Oolong increased energy expenditure in the subjects by 10% as opposed to 4% for the green tea.

However, there are two major flaws in this study:

  • 120 minutes is not a significant amount of time
  • There was no measurement of fat loss specifically

So there may be some benefit to consuming oolong tea, but it would require several more controlled studies before I would recommend it as a supplement you should include in your arsenal.

Also, oolong tea is widely available in supermarkets and specialty stores – so if you choose to use oolong tea, you don’t have to pay the outrageous prices they are charging online.

Part 4: The Science of a Fat Loss Diet

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This may be the most asked question that I have received since I started advising people on fat loss:  do any of those fat burning supplements that you see actually work?  Without getting into a list of specific supplements, I’ll say that most of them do not work.  However, there are a handful of supplements that you MUST add to your fat burning arsenal.

  • Green Tea extract – you could drink green tea, but you’d have to drink a TON to get the effective dosage.  When choosing green tea extracts, you want one that has an equivalent of at least 90 mg of EGCG, the active ingredient in green tea responsible for the health boosting and fat burning effects.  90 mg 3 times per day is the recommendation.
  • Fish oil and/or flaxseed oil – studies have shown that six grams of fish oil per day has been linked to fat loss.  Or you could go with the flaxseed oil at the dosages I recommended previously – 1 Tablespoon per 75 lbs of bodyweight (for flaxseed oil, I would stay away from the pills, as you’d have to take too many to get this dosage).  The warehouse clubs like Costco or BJs are a great source for these at a reasonable price.
  • Whey protein (for after workouts) – this absorbs quickly, and is what you need for those post-workout drinks
  • Casein protein (for other times in the day) – digests more slowly, and several studies have shown this to be a key component to fat loss.  Casein is the majority of the protein in milk and cheese, but is also available in powders.  Ask at your local health food or vitamin store.
  • Multivitamin

The ephedrine/caffeine combination that was, unfortunately, banned by the FDA (and later reversed) is no longer widely available.  I won’t go into much detail on this one except that the studies showed that it was safe and effective for fat loss AT THE PROPER DOSAGES and that those who blindly prescribed to the “more is better” philosophy were the ones who ultimately led to its banishment.  I will say that you can still get it pretty easily, even in your local drugstore.

I would not be responsible if I did not say the following two things:

  1. There is no magic bullet for fat loss – supplements are a small piece of the fat loss techniques we have discussed
  2. This newsletter is NOT a substitute for professional medical advice – before taking ANY supplement, consult with your physician – some supplements can interfere and/or negate prescription drugs, people have different tolerance levels, etc.

Now we have our complete list of the most effective fat burning techniques, according to science and real world application:

  1. Eating more often (shooting for 6 small meals per day)
  2. Resistance training
  3. Interval cardio
  4. Low carbohydrate diets
  5. Supplements