Green tea diet: Fat buster!

For some time now, I have been trying to convince friends at my computer class that a green tea diet is a good thing, especially for those trying to lose weight. The good news is, most of them have now switched over from coffee or black tea to green tea, and having gained confidence in my persuasive abilities, I have decided to advocate the green tea diet among as many people as possible.

First things first – if you gorge on ice cream and double burgers every day, drinking green tea will be about as much use as a glass of wine to a teetotaler. What you have to do is incorporate green tea into your daily diet, which needs to be a healthy and balanced one, for the benefits to really show. So under the right conditions, what does a green tea diet do for you?

Since I’m on the topic of diet and weight loss, green tea oxidizes fat much faster and increases metabolism, burning those calories pronto. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, green tea increases metabolism and oxidizes fat without affecting your heart rate. That means your heart is under no extra pressure from stimulants that are normally found in most weight loss products. Apparently, a standard cup of green tea contains only about 4 calories per serving and works best if you don’t add milk or sugar. I can tell you it doesn’t taste half good that way!

Because of the effect it has on certain chemical secretions within the body that affect the brain, green tea also helps keep Alzheimer’s disease at bay. No, don’t ask me what the chemical secretions are -- the names are just too unbearable. Okay, if you must know, the chemicals are acetyl cholinesterase, butyryl cholinesterase, and beta secretase. Happy? What these villains do is form plaques and protein deposits in the brain, which as you can imagine is not ideal. And what green tea does is hinder the proper functioning of these chemicals which is GOOD as far as diet and weight loss is concerned.

A green tea diet also helps you fight various viruses, including influenza or the flu, thanks to the ingredient called catechin. In addition, a green tea diet lowers blood sugar and blood pressure, and most important, it contains antioxidants that fight cancerous cells. After this, anything else may seem like a bit of an anticlimax, but I have to say that green tea is also wonderful for controlling diarrhea as my 4 yr old niece will tell you.

And though I find this difficult to believe, there are apparently folks out there who don’t like the taste of green tea. For you strange people, there’s the green tea pill and the green tea extract. There’s even a green tea patch, for crying out loud! The idea is to ‘drink’ green tea, one way or another. Once you have started, you’ll probably realize, as I did, why it is called the “fountain of youth” and “magic potion”, no kidding. I mean, look at the longevity of the Japanese and Chinese, which is where green tea basically comes from. They have been on a green tea diet for a few thousand years now, and I think you would agree that the results are pretty darned positive.

Green tea patch