Supplement Godfather

Q: Green tea seems to be one of those staple ingredients that just about everyone uses, whether it’s for antioxidants or fat loss. But exactly how does green tea burn fat?

A: Green tea isn’t the most exciting ingredient, but it certainly provides a lot of health benefits and has a ton of research to back up its fatburning properties. It’s well known for being rich in fl avonoids, and a subclass of flavonoids commonly known as catechins are found in green tea and deliver its fat-burning benefits. One of the most widely studied catechins is called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and it can inhibit an enzyme called catechol- O-methyltransferase (COMT), which is the enzyme that degrades norepinephrine, one of the body’s most powerful fat-burning hormones. Considering the key role that norepinephrine plays in fat burning (by inhibiting COMT), green tea can result in a greater and more prolonged effect of norepinephrine on thermo genesis and fat metabolism. In addition, green tea affects another enzyme called pancreatic lipase. This enzyme is secreted from the pancreas and is the primary enzyme that breaks down dietary fat in the digestive system. By inhibiting pancreatic lipase, green tea can help reduce fat absorption in the body. These two enzymatic pathways are the main ways in which green tea helps shed fat

To read more about how green tea can help with fat loss too, click here!

Green tea photo courtesty of ThinkStock