Green Tea and Fat

Green Tea (South East Asia)
Green tea interacts with the metabolism to block fat from entering the blood stream in the digestive track. Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French
Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in
fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found
to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of
smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined
that EGCG, the ingredient found in green tea is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may
explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though
approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.
New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of
Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine
and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.
To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea is insomnia due to the
fact that it contains caffeine. However, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there are
approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over onehundred
mg. in eight ounces of coffee.