Already lauded as a powerful health drink, green tea antioxidant also helps dieters shed fat. How? Well, before we answer that question, let us first delve a little bit into the history of green tea antioxidant.
The History of Green Tea Antioxidant
Green tea antioxidant was first used in ancient China. It is said that while the emperor’s servants were boiling water, some leaves of a nearby plant fell on it. The scent was so fragrant and the resulting tea was so delicious that the emperor readily wanted his tea to be made of this plant. That plant later came to be known in the scientific world as Camellia sinensis, the plant where black tea, oolong tea, and green tea antioxidants come from.
Green Tea and its Antioxidant Effects
Among all flavonoids, catechin is ranked high for its antioxidant effects and properties. Catechin is that substance found in green tea which makes the beverage an excellent source of antioxidant effects. Besides tannin, vitamins such as vitamin A (carotene), C, and E, there are also other well-known substances in green tea that gives it its antioxidant effects.
Research aimed at finding the active compounds in green tea revealed that its protective and antioxidant effects are due chiefly to catechins which are powerful polyphenolic antioxidants. Green tea also has antioxidant effects that make them powerful anti-carcinogenic, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, and anti-microbial actions. A particularly bioactive catechin called epigallocatechin gallate has been singled out by many researchers as very important because of its antioxidant effects leading to cancer prevention.
Weight Loss Benefits of Green Tea Antioxidant
Now, hundreds of thousands of years later, green tea antioxidants have certainly come a long way, from a simple health drink to something even medicinal. Cancer research has paid much attention to the benefits of green tea antioxidants for apparently, they have a preventive effect on cancer cells, stopping them from growing and multiplying. The free radicals that cause most cancers are neutralized by green tea antioxidants.
Green tea antioxidants have also been linked to several other diseases for its apparent curative and preventive effects. Green tea antioxidants are said to reduce the risk of heart disease and even degenerative disorders most associated with aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, and more.
Yet for all its wondrous benefits, nothing could be more surprising that green tea antioxidants apparent weight loss benefits. In a study on the weight loss effects of green tea antioxidants, scientists found out that the 24 hour energy expenditure of 10 healthy men receiving doses of green tea antioxidants showed a significant increase of 4%. To measure the exact weight loss benefits, the investigators gave three doses of caffeine (50 mg), green tea extract, and a dummy placebo every day. The weight loss team given green tea appeared to lose more weight than the ones given only placebo and caffeine.
Apparently, much of the weight loss benefits of green tea lies in its thermogenic effects. Weight loss is promoted when green tea antioxidants stimulate the cells to metabolize fats faster, thus leading to more energy and greater weight loss.
