Green Tea Consumption Linked to Weight Loss and Reduction in Waist Circumference

Green Tea Consumption Linked to Weight Loss and Reduction in Waist Circumference

Green Tea Consumption Linked to Weight Loss and Reduction in Waist Circumference
Brazilian scientists have found that drinking green tea may help elderly people to lose weight and trim their waistline. Maria Gabriela Valle Gottlieb, of the Geriatrics and Gerontology Institute at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, and colleagues randomly assigned 45 elderly people with metabolic syndrome to one of two groups: A green tea group ( n= 24) or a control group ( n= 21). The green tea group were given sachets containing 1.0 g of green tea to drink 3 times each day for 60 days. At the end of the study results showed that those in the green tea group exhibited a “statistically significant weight loss” from an average of 71.5 kg at the start of the study to 70.3 kg at the end. No significant weight loss was observed in the control group. Furthermore, significant decreases in BMI and waist circumference were observed in both groups; however the decreases were greater in the green tea group. The researchers believe that the reported benefits of green tea consumption may be due to either its ability to increase thermogenesis or an alternative mechanism of appetite suppression.

Purpose
Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a widely consumed beverage, and laboratory and some intervention studies have indicated the potential health benefits of hot tea. The present study examines the association between tea consumption (evaluating hot and iced tea independently) and markers for MetS adults in a sample of 6,472 who participated in the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) surveys.

Methods
Tea consumption was evaluated using food frequency questionnaires and 24-hour dietary recalls. Seventy percent of the sample reported any consumption of iced tea, and 16% were daily consumers; whereas approximately 56% of this sample reported hot tea consumption and 9% were daily consumers.

Green Tea Consumption Linked to Weight Loss and Reduction in Waist Circumference

Results
Hot tea consumption was inversely associated with obesity: tea consumers had lower mean waist circumference and lower BMI (25 vs. 28 kg/m2 in men; 26 vs. 29 kg/m2 in women; both P<0.001), than non-consumers after controlling for age, physical activity, total energy intake, and other confounders. For iced tea consumption, the association was reversed: increased iced tea consumption was associated with higher BMI, greater waist circumference, and greater subcutaneous skinfold thickness after controlling for age, physical activity, energy intake, sugar intake, and other confounders. Hot tea consumption was associated with beneficial biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk and inflammation (increased high density lipoprotein-associated cholesterol and decreased C-reactive protein in both sexes, and reduced triglycerides in women), whereas the association with iced tea consumption was again reversed.

Conclusions
These cross-sectional results support growing laboratory data which demonstrate the negative association of hot tea intake with markers of MetS.

Source: http://www.worldhealth.net/news/green-tea-consumption-linked-weight-loss-and-reduc/

Green Tea Consumption Linked to Weight Loss and Reduction in Waist Circumference