Green Tea to Lean Tea
I want to give a shout out to my man Mike Yewdell for letting me be one of the first to blog for Campus Protein! You guys are doing big things and I can’t wait to see how far you guys will go in the future.
I’m going to discuss the amazing benefits that green tea can offer to everyone. I started learning about green tea when I casually found a study on MensHealth Magazine. I was never an avid tea drinker, let alone green tea, before I read this article, but it sparked my attention and now it’s the main beverage I drink (on weekdays obviously!).
Green Tea and WEIGHT LOSS
All of the hype these days is about weight loss. What better way to lose weight than to enjoy a nice cup of green tea? Green tea has been getting a lot of recognition recently and I want to expand everyone’s knowledge on why this little supplement and beverage can be vital to everyone’s weight loss and healthy lifestyle goals.
Before going into the awesomeness of this tea, we need to know why this tea is different from the rest.
Properties
Green tea, along with black and oolong tea, comes from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. Green tea is unique because the leaves are not fermented before drying. This means that the compounds in the leaves are prevented from being oxidized; where as the other tea’s compounds are converted into other compounds that are not as effective at achieving healthy weight loss lifestyle goals.
Polyphenols: What is this? Well, this is an ANTIOXIDANT that has anticancer properties. However, what makes green tea so special is the high content of a specific polyphenol called catechins.
Catechins: This antioxidant has been shown to reduce body fat accumulation. Catechins stimulate the central nervous system similar to caffeine (which means revving up your metabolism), but without the crash of caffeine. In addition, catechins reduce your LDL (or bad) cholesterol.
Flavonoids: Green tea has the HIGHEST mean content in a cup of green tea than other foods and drinks with the same volume. Flavonoids are a group of phytochemicals in plants that are responsible for the anti-carcinogenic effects.
These antioxidants and compounds play together to improve cardiovascular health and help get rid of the unwanted fat.
All right guys, this tea will NOT give you immediate weight loss, but if you incorporate this beverage into your diet you WILL certainly see results. Green tea has a unique thermogenesis property where the catechins will stimulate fat oxidation, boosting your metabolic rate at about 4% without the strain on your heart like caffeine does by increasing your heart rate.
By simply adding 3-4 cups of green tea a day, you can enjoy and reap the many benefits this great beverage has to offer. I know that drinking 3-4 cups a day is a lot, especially for the busy and active college student. Studies have shown taking green tea supplements yield the same benefit. My personal favorite green tea supplement is “Lean Green” by Primaforce. From all the supplements I have seen, this product contains the highest amount of polyphenols (90%) and catechins (70%) where as most products contain 60-70% polyphenols. Simply take 2 capsules in the morning and you receive your daily, powerful, antioxidant intake.
To increase my consumption of green tea, I usually put 4-5 tea bags in a big pitcher and let it brew over night in the fridge. Drinking a hot beverage multiple times a day can be tedious, so I like to mix it up and have it chilled. Plus this is a great way to increase your water intake if you guys are not getting your 8 cups a day.
I have completely switched over from coffee to green tea. There is less caffeine and more antioxidants to get your day started with green tea. You will not get a sudden jolt of energy like you do with coffee, but the energy effects is more stable; you will not crash from green tea and the energy you will get is slight yet long lasting. Being a green tea drinker for 6 months now, I have more energy than used to have than downing cups of coffee a day.
Along with a healthy diet and exercise, green tea can help you achieve your weight loss goals.
I hope this helps you with your knowledge on green tea and incorporate this little, but potent drink into your lifestyle.
Once again, props to CampusProtein for the hard work they have done. I would never have gotten so jacked,
not tan, without them.
References:
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/health-benefits-of-green-tea
http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/benefit_of_drinking_green_tea
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