How would you like to increase your energy or improve the way your body burns fat? Maybe you don’t need to lose weight and just want to boost your endurance training for a special event. Whether it’s to lose inches or win the gold, you have the opportunity to increase your performance with a very special natural supplement by nearly 11 percent. Green tea extract has proven to give you that oomph to help you achieve your goals.
According to the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, researchers have proven that green tea extract can improve exercise performance by increasing metabolic efficiency – the way your body burns fat.[i] While drinking green tea has benefits, you would need about six to seven cups of it per day to elicit the same effects of the extract. Needless to say, the capsulated decaffeinated green tea extract formula used in the study is a much more practical means.
Led by Justin Roberts, 14 recreationally active men were recruited by researchers for the new study. The average age of the men was 21 years. For the four weeks of the study, the men either received green tea extract or a placebo. During this time, the men cycled for one hour three times per week. However, the men cycled a longer distance during the last week of the study. In contrast to the placebo group, the green tea extract group showed a performance improvement after the final week. In fact, they had a 10.9 percent increase!
Additionally, the study resulted in increased fat oxidation which is the breakdown of body fat to be used for energy. It also showed decreased body fat with the green tea extract group. Fat oxidation rates increased by nearly 25 percent while body fat decreased by 1.63 percent.
Reap the Benefits of Green Tea
The 2015 study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition adds an ever-growing body of science to support the benefits for improved endurance training. What makes green tea so special are its polyphenols. Polyphenols are potent antioxidants, anti-virals, anti-inflammatories, and anti-carcinogenics that provide protection against harmful substances taken into the body, as well as some diseases such as heart disease and cancer.[ii] Green tea contains between 30 to 40 percent of water-extractable polyphenols. Black tea pales in comparison at only 10 percent.
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition research
Polyphenols found in green tea are divided into four primary groups. Within one of these groups is the most important active ingredient called Epigallocatechin Gallate or EGCg for short. Green tea’s EGCg promotes thermogenesis and fat oxidation. Thermogenesis is a process in which your body generates heat. By producing more heat, your body burns fat faster. In the new study, 571 milligrams of decaffeinated green tea extract was used on participants. This also provided a daily dose of 400 milligrams of EGCg.
Summary
According to researchers, the observed impact of decaffeinated green tea extract on endurance training performance supports green tea extract’s effectiveness. Therefore, you may want to try it if you’re looking to achieve better endurance results. With a healthy diet, it will work for you whether you’re an athlete or just someone wanting a little more oomph during exercise or other activities. You may even lose a little body fat if needed. Read more about green tea extract at Trilogy Medical Centers for Integrative Medicine.
[i] Roberts, J., Roberts, M. & Tarpey, M., et al. (2015). The Effect of a Decaffeinated Green Tea Extract Formula on Fat Oxidation, Body Composition and Exercise Performance. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 12(1). doi: 10.1186/s12970-014-0062-7.
[ii] Middleton, E., Kandaswami, C. & Theoharides, T. (2000, December 1). The Effects of Plant Flavonoids on Mammalian Cells: Implications for Inflammation, Heart Disease, and Cancer. Pharmacological Reviews, 52(4), 673-751.
