Tuning up your metabolism with the right nutrients is essential for weight loss. There is significant evidence that supplementation of green tea extract can lead to increased fat burning. Obesity is not a drug deficiency. Sure, you can administer certain synthetic medications or nutrients that stimulate thermogenic activity, but supplying your body with the essential nutrients is all that it needs to activate correct fat metabolism. This is better than doing it through caloric restriction or brain-chemistry manipulation. Nutrients won't do everything. You need a diet that is lower in carbohydrates, contains adequate quality protein, essential fats, and plenty of fiber, and a routine exercise program.

GREEN TEA

Q: What supplement, other than Essential Fatty Acids, do you feel is best for thermogenesis (fat burning)?

A: Green tea extract may be useful in controlling body composition through the activation of thermogenesis, or fat oxidation. I have even seen this research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Green tea extract contains a high amount of catechin polyphenols, which inhibit the breakdown of norepinephrine. Green tea may cause a more sustained effect of norepiniphrine on thermogenesis.

Q: Is it the caffeine that makes green tea so effective?

A: Researchers thought it might be the caffeine in the green tea that effects fat burning, so they did some tests. They had the test subjects use either: a. Green Tea Extract (90 mg epigallocatechin gallate and 50 mg of caffeine) b. Caffeine (50 mg) c. Placebo Treatment with caffeine in amounts equivalent to those found in the green tea extract showed no changes in energy expenditure. The researchers concluded that green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation to a degree that cannot be explained by its caffeine content. The catachin polyphenols in green tea - which have been proven to speed up the body's calorie- burning ability - are unlike other diet supplements and drugs. For instance, green tea doesn't increase the heart rate. This is important for those who are overweight, because most are already at risk for hypertension or high blood pressure.

Q: What is the Green Tea dosage you have found to be most effective?

A: The extract contains the precise ratio of specific green tea polyphenols, including 90 mg of the active ingredient epigal locatechin gallate (EGCG). This proprietary extract has been shown to increase thermogenesis by up to 43%. The most amazing thing is that the test subjects increased thermogenesis and fat oxidation without exercise of any kind. Just think what they could have done with exercise! (I do not support weight loss without exercise - I am simply pointing out what the researchers found.) Green tea could be that extra boost you need to get you over a plateau or help you lose those last few pounds.