Green Tea Extract

Green tea extract, loaded with antioxidants, improves metabolism. This can help you burn more fat, especially around your belly, aiding weight loss.

It includes caffeine, boosting brain function and alertness without causing the jittery effect often associated with coffee.

Studies show that it reduces your risk of getting cancer, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. It can also help prevent diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.

What is Green Tea Extract?

Green tea extract includes green tea catechins, flavonoids, and caffeine.

The flavonoids and catechins are antioxidants, which reduce free radical formation in the body, protecting molecules and cells from damage. The caffeine stimulates brain activity and metabolism. It helps with weight loss by improving metabolism. It lowers cholesterol by increasing ‘good’ cholesterol which reduces the plaque in your arteries, and it lowers blood pressure. Green tea leaves can also be steeped and drunk as tea. Consuming enough tea to enjoy its benefits can be impractical, making the extract a more feasible option for many.

Other Names for Green Tea Extract

The biological name for green tea is Camellia sinensis. It also goes by name “Veregen”.

Editor’s Note

I began to use green tea extract about a year ago to lose weight. About a year ago, I started using it to shed weight, almost giving up on losing those last stubborn 10 pounds around my belly.

It proved me wrong. I also noticed that my immune system seemed to benefit from the use of green tea extract. I rarely got a cold, and when I did, it was very mild and went away quickly.

At my annual check-up, the doctor mentioned lower blood pressure and cholesterol compared to the previous year’s results. I told her that I had started taking green tea extract and she said that was probably the reason.

I have a friend who has just started using green tea extract. Her doctor told her that her blood sugar was high and that she needed to lose weight and control her sugar if she didn’t want to get diabetes.

She has lost 12 pounds in two months and has dramatically reduced her intake of added sugar. She says she doesn’t miss the sweets at all – it has curbed her cravings for sweet foods.

I’ve discovered I need to take the extract in the morning; caffeine keeps me awake if I take it later.

With my breakfast, I take two tablets, boosting my mental alertness throughout the day, yet I can still sleep easily.

Green Tea Extract Reviews

Internet reviews of green tea extract are almost universally positive. Users cite its benefits of weight loss and increased energy.

When combined with diet and exercise, aids weight loss, but it won’t melt off pounds on its own. It helps to curb cravings.

Some users, aiming to boost metabolism with green tea extract, found a bonus: lowered cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

Kris Gunners, BSc, on the Authority Nutrition blog, says:

“In order to feel better, lose weight and lower your risk of chronic diseases, you might want to consider making green tea a regular part of your life.”

Benefits and effects

It burns fat and boosts metabolism, improving physical performance. This may help you to maintain a healthy weight.

It can also improve your sensitivity to insulin and lower your blood sugar, reducing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Green tea increases energy and improves brain function. It contains caffeine, a stimulant, which blocks adenosine, an inhibitory neurotransmitter and increases the concentration of neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine. [1]

It also includes L-theanine which decreases anxiety and works synergistically with caffeine to improve brain function. So green tea extract has the energizing qualities of coffee without the jittery feeling.

The caffeine in green tea extract seems to have a better effect on mental clarity and energy than the caffeine in coffee. It does not seem to increase heartrate or anxiety, as coffee sometimes can.

The catechin compounds that are found in green tea extract appear to protect the neurons in the brain, which could lower your risk of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, the two most common neurodegenerative diseases.

The antioxidants in it may reduce your risk of cancer. [2]

Since oxidative damage contributes to the development of cancer and antioxidants, help to prevent this damage, the effect of ingesting antioxidants is that your cells are better protected from cancer.

Green tea increases antioxidants in the blood, protecting the LDL cholesterol from becoming oxidized, which can lead to heart disease. The antioxidants protect against cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke.

How It Works

It contains green tea catechins (GTC) made up of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin (EC), and epicatechin gallate (ECG). It also includes kaempferol, quercetin, and myricetin, which are flavonoids.

Green tea extract naturally contains caffeine, but caffeine-free supplements are available. EGCC is the primary ingredient and is responsible for much of the extract’s antioxidants.

The extract’s antioxidants are responsible for many of the extract’s benefits. They reduce the formation in the body of free radicals, which can damage cells and lead to disease.

Free radicals are also responsible for many of the negative effects of aging on our bodies. By reducing or slowing free radical formation, our cells remain healthier and less damaged.

The benefits of green tea extract are apparent almost immediately, often being noticeable within a day or two. Its effects persist as long as it’s taken, making daily intake essential for experiencing its intended benefits.

There appear to be no ill effects when taking it regularly for months or even years, so there is no need to limit its use.

Dosage

The recommended dosage for antioxidant effect, fat burning, and improved brain function is 1 to 2 500mg capsules per day. Take it with or before breakfast or lunch.

Each capsule includes about 15mg of caffeine, which is the equivalent of about one-sixth of a cup of coffee. Taking it later in the day may cause insomnia, especially if you are sensitive to caffeine.

You may want to reduce your intake of caffeine from other sources while taking green tea extract, to avoid consuming too much caffeine.

Side Effects

Most of the side effects reported from green tea extract are due to the caffeine it contains.

Caffeine may increase anxiety, increase the risk of a bleeding disorder, cause irregular heartbeat, worsen diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome, affect blood sugar control, or worsen osteoporosis.

Drinking green tea or taking green tea extract in excess may worsen anemia or cause liver damage.

When taking green tea extract, do not take additional caffeine from any source until you see how the caffeine in the supplement affects you.

If you are sensitive to caffeine, you may want to consider a caffeine-free version of green tea extract, although it will not provide the energy-producing and metabolism-boosting benefits of the regular type.

Stacking

For fat-burning, you can stack green tea extract with capsaicin, which increases the number of calories you will burn by raising the level of epinephrine in your system.

If you burn calories by working out, take the capsaicin a half hour to an hour before you work out.

Stacking green tea extract with carnitine will help the fat that you have freed up to be burned as energy. To do this, the fat needs to get into your mitochondria in your cells.

Carnitine, resembling an amino acid, aids in transporting fat to the mitochondria for burning. Take it 2-3 times a day, before and after your workout, with meals.

Taking conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, at breakfast, lunch, and nighttime will prevent the fat from your bloodstream from being stored as body fat.

Preventing fat cell expansion is easier than removing stored fat, making it crucial to address fat accumulation at its source.

Omega-3 fats in fish oil activate genes that increase fat burning and reduce fat storage, aiding in weight management.

If you thought you didn’t have ‘good genes’ when it comes to how much fat you carry on your body, adding fish oil to your regimen may ‘improve’ those genes.

Alternatives

If you are looking for an alternative to green tea extract, consider these.

• Green tea. If you prefer, you can steep the green tea leaves to make tea and drink it. It has the same benefits as green tea extract. Some people feel it’s more natural to drink the tea instead of taking a pill, but the amount of tea you need to drink to get the benefit is significant. Each green tea extract pill contains the same amount of green tea in six cups of tea, so you would have to drink six to twelve cups of tea each day to get the benefit of one to two green tea extract pills. Some people find it inconvenient to drink that much tea each day.
• Rooibos. This is known as a tea but is actually a legume. It does not EGCG, which is the primary antioxidant in green tea extract, but it contains other antioxidant flavonoids. It treats anxiety, skin conditions, allergies, and gout. It has been found to be effective in treating the symptoms of type 2 diabetes and is believed to prevent the cell mutations that cause cancer. It also lowers cholesterol.
• Olive leaf tea. This tea has no caffeine, making it an attractive alternative to green tea extract if you are sensitive to caffeine. It is made from the leaves and bark of the olive tree, which contains the antioxidant oleuropein, flavonoids, and polyphenols. Like green tea extract, olive leaf tea lowers blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol fights the free radicals that are believed to cause cancer and boosts energy. Olive leaf tea also fights colds, allergies, and infections.

Closing Thoughts

It increases the burning of fat in your body, improves your energy and mental clarity, and prevents many of the most prevalent diseases of our time.

The benefits of green tea extract can be found in other supplements as well, but it is one of the most complete products available.

It’s no wonder that it is rapidly growing in popularity throughout the world.

If you want to have more energy, lose weight, prevent life-threatening diseases and improve your overall health, try it as part of your daily regimen.

Also read our blog on Powerful Tips to Biohack Brain Health & Performance