3 Cups A Day Keeps the Belly Fat Away
05/03/2012
Are you drinking your green tea? Today not only do I want to share with you about the benefits of drinking 3 cups of green tea a day, but to discuss the benefits to drinking green tea on a daily basis.
Green tea actually reduces your waist line helping you to lose weight, particularly for one of the body parts that most people struggle with, the abdominal area..or what we like to call, the keg, the belly!!!
What is the ingredient in green tea that makes this possible? Catechin is a powerful, water soluble polyphenol and antioxidant that is easily oxidized. These polyphenols work with other chemicals in the body, intensifying fat oxidation and a process called thermogenesis., which is heat production by your body that burns fat. It aids the body to transfer sugar burning to fat burning.
Green tea keeps our insulin levels in-check, which in turn helps us lose weight or keep the weight off more easily. What happens is that the carbohydrates that we eat are released more slowly, keeping our insulin at a steady level. The chances of storing fat are reduced. Just a side note: that when you eat too many carbs, your insulin levels suddenly drop and are more likely to be stored as fat over being burned as energy.
Green tea also helps depress leptin production in the body. What is leptin and what does this mean? Leptin is a protein hormone that regulates our appetite and our fat storage. The lower the levels of leptin, the smaller your appetite is. However, people that are overweight make too much leptin, possibly causing them to eat too much. If polyphenols decrease the levels of your leptin, you will eat less.
An interesting fact: Did you know that stress, anxiety and depression are linked to abdominal fat? Studies have shown that abdominal fat is increased due to increasing cortisol, the stress hormone. Green tea consists of an amino acid called L-theanine, which actually counteracts cortisols.
All of this being said, remember that this does not mean you can just sit on the couch with a bag of Doritos in one hand and a cup of green tea in the other, and expect to burn fat off your belly. Moderate exercise, of course, is needed. Studies show that you will lose more weight by drinking green tea and doing moderate exercise (three hours a week), than if you just exercised. So exercise regularly and be sure to drink your green tea!
~Prestin