Green Tea and Weight Loss – How Much Green Tea for Weight Loss?

Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | Comments 0

If you have been looking about the inter-web for weight loss solutions, you are likely to be have been told about the fat burning properties of green tea, or may have otherwise heard how this is an herbal weight loss remedy. So the obvious question would be does this really work; and how much green tea for weight loss?

How green tea can help in weight loss

Before we look at how much green tea for weight loss is actually required, let us understand that green tea is not a magic potion that will help you ‘melt’ the fat or magically help you shed weight. Rather it is a healthy beverage that can help in a weight loss program in several possible ways:

It is likely that green tea can help to boost the metabolism, which could increase the rate at which the body uses up calories.
It is also claimed that green tea can help regulate glucose and, prevent fat absorption to an extent.
Switching to green tea as a beverage could mean that you cut down on other sweet, creamy, calorific drinks
Green tea could also help to suppress the appetite in cases, but then again the question would be how much green tea is actually needed for weight loss?

How much green tea for weight loss?

Ideally, it is recommended that 2 to 3 cups of green tea can help a person with a good weight loss plan. Some experts recommend up to 5 cups of green tea a day.

This is likely to give the system the benefits of polyphenols and catechins that green tea is known to contain and could probably assist in fat burning.

This comes with a caveat however: one cannot think that they can continue with an unhealthy diet or a sedentary lifestyle and merely add a few cups of green tea to their daily intake to see fat loss. One can likely see the positive impacts of green tea if it is used as a substitute for unhealthy and calorific beverages, if one determines to eat healthy and is reasonably active.

So regardless of how much green tea for weight loss you consume, it is probably going to help in weight loss rather than actually cause weight loss by itself.

Are there any harmful side effects of green tea?

While we know that green tea is good for health, it is important to know that it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Green tea also contains some amount of caffeine and drinking too much of it could cause restlessness or difficulty in getting to sleep. It also important to make sure the green tea does not react adversely to any medication one is on, or have an adverse impact on any medical condition.

Can you have green tea in any other form?

So far we have been looking at how much green tea for weight loss is required; as in how many cups a day. But it is possible to take green tea capsules that contain green tea extract or to consume green tea in its dried form.