Have you ever noticed that you can often find green tea or its extracts being sold near other weight loss products? Perhaps you never thought twice about it, but they don’t sell coffee, milk or other such beverages there, so why green tea? Let’s take a look at green tea and weight loss.

While it may not be 100% perfect (nothing is), you will see that green tea does have some pretty impressive benefits; not only on how much you weigh, but on your overall health as well. Ancient cultures have been aware of these properties for ages, but it is only recently that Western medicine and science have started to see how much this unassuming plant can do.

Before we get to the good stuff, it’s only fair to offer a few warnings. First, green tea contains caffeine, so those who can’t tolerate it, or have to avoid it for spiritual or health reasons shouldn’t drink it. Second, you should talk to your doctor before making any changes to your diet. Finally, none of the information in this article is meant to be medical advice of any kind. Always consult with your doctor and follow their advice. Okay, now on to the good stuff…

Green tea contains catechin polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants. These appear to be the source of a lot of the health benefits associated with drinking green tea. Furthermore, the catechin increases your metabolism. Some studies have shown that green tea can boost your metabolism by as much as 4% for a full 24 hours after drinking it. Imagine drinking a cup or two of tea and then burning extra calories for a day afterwards.

The better metabolic rate is only the start of the good news about green tea and weight loss. One of the biggest problems with going on a diet is that you always seem to feel hungry. But green tea comes to the rescue yet again! How? First it helps to regulate blood sugar levels, which play an important part in how full we feel. Next, the polyphenols in green tea may suppress the body’s production of the enzyme leptin which makes us feel hungry. So, it not only makes you feel fuller, it also makes you less hungry at the same time.

So far it’s easy to see how green tea is a natural ally in the fight for losing weight, but we’re not quite done yet. As if increased metabolism and feeling full weren’t enough, there is also some evidence that compounds found in green tea reduce how much fat the body absorbs. The catechins, caffeine and theanine work to inhibit the lipase enzymes that signal the body to store fat.

Add to all of this the fact that tea has zero calories, and there should be no doubt that green tea and weight loss go together. Just drink a cup or two every day, and you should start noticing the positive effects before you know it.

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If you haven’t yet heard, green tea offers a wide variety of health benefits. One of the reasons that green tea is generally better than black tea is the way it’s processed. Both types come from the same plant, but black tea is fermented, while green tea is simply dried. This allows it to retain a lot more of its naturally occurring compounds. Then there is organic green tea, which doesn’t use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. In theory, that makes it even better for you, and people who drink it say it has a more fresh and aromatic quality than the regular kind.

While the use of strictly organic green tea goes back before written history (everything was organic then, right?), it may go back over one hundred thousand years. There is no doubt that the medicinal effects of the plant have been well-known by people in China long before scientists and medical researchers started looking into it. One of the earliest known uses of tea–apart from being a beverage–was to treat wounds and control bleeding.

These ancient cultures didn’t understand the chemistry of tea leaves, but they were still able to see the positive effects it had on their health. Today, scientists know a lot more about what makes tea tick. Among the main compounds found in green tea are catechin polyphenols, an antioxidant that packs a wallop. It has been shown to reduce the formation of blood clots, kill or inhibit some cancer cells and lower bad cholesterol. Drinking green tea is like opening up a medicine chest provide by Mother Nature herself.

But what is it about green tea that makes it so good for you? After all, there are many different varieties of tea, and all of them come from the same plant. That’s our first clue as to what makes green tea special. All tea may be derived from the same plant, but what makes each kind different is how it’s processed. Black tea, for example, is fermented before it reaches the consumer. This allows some of the beneficial nutrients to leech out during processing. Green tea, on the other hand is simply dried. Then you pour hot water over the tea leaves and that’s all there is to it. This minimal use of processing keeps many more of the healthy nutrients intact.

You have already read some of what organic green tea can do, but there are even more things it does: cavity prevention, boosts immunity, lowers blood pressure, helps bone density and aids indigestion. The other big thing it does is help with weight loss. It does this by reducing how much cholesterol and fat the body absorbs, helps you feel fuller and increases metabolism. Green tea contains some caffeine, so keep that in mind if you are sensitive to it. That being said, with all it has going for it, green tea is one thing just about everybody should add to their daily routine.

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