(Newswire.net — May 20, 2019) — If you have ever been on a diet, then you will know that the two biggest killers to its success are the twin evils of hunger and lethargy.
Both can strike without warning and threaten to thwart any diet.
In particular, intermittent fasting can pose a particular problem to sudden attacks of the hungry menace.
For this reason, followers of intermittent fasting are always on the lookout for things which can help boost their willpower.
Green tea and matcha green tea can help in this situation.
The catechins found within green tea actually helps the body to burn fat faster. This has the knock-on effect of dimming some of the worst hunger pangs that dieters experience.
It actually speeds up the burning of belly fat (the most problematic area for fat to gather on the human body) andconverts it directly into energy.
Studies into type 2 diabetes have concluded how green tea can be used as an aide to help shrink the waist size of patients, even if their body mass remains the same.
It is the lowering of fat build up around the organs, in the middle of the body, which is beneficial for the increased health of obese and diabetic patients. This is also an area that many dieters wish to see an improvement in!
By burning up the reserves of fat faster, your body is going straight to its ready stored energy source. This helps to sustain you and keep your energy levels on an even keel.
The primary active catechin found within green tea is EGCG. This is the element which helps to boost the body’s sympathetic nervous system. When activated, it puts the body into a state of fight or flight. Part of this state is the burning of fat, needed to energize the body in its upcoming battles – or running!
The addition of caffeine into the equation only helps further. Both the catechins and the caffeine within green and matcha teas stimulate the mind, keeping it alert and capable of functioning for long periods without food.
The presence of both catechins and caffeine within green tea may help to increase calorie burning by up to 4%.
So that is how green tea and especially matcha green tea can help the body to shed belly fat and supercharge weight loss. But what about those hunger pangs? Can green tea successfully be used to control them? Or is drinking green tea considered ‘cheating’ when it comes to following intermittent fasting?
Well, firstly, although there are a (very few) calories in matcha tea, it is negligible enough to be discounted as part of your daily intake – as long as you don’t sweeten it, of course!
Far from breaking the fast, green tea is compatible with your hungry hours. As we have seen, it can actively speed up the burning of fat and the conversion into energy.
But it also acts to (very mildly) control your hunger pangs as well.
How does it do this? It is by lowering the levels of ghrelin, the hormone responsible for all those pangs and cravings.
Once again, it is the catechins found within the green tea that do this. They help slay the hunger monster by actually stopping some off the glucose absorption in the body. This is why it is helpful in the fight against type 2 diabetes and obesity.
So, the catechins found within green tea can help burn fat and kill your hunger pangs – that’s the good news.
The bad news is that unfortunately you would have to drink a lot of it in order to achieve anywhere near the levels needed to have any significant effect. Around ten cups a day, in fact. And this is probably not practical, nor desirable and possibly not healthy too.
So, what can we do?
Well, one suggestion is to opt for the more concentrated matcha tea.
This is because it has a greatly increased level of nutrients compared to regular green tea and therefore not so much needs to be consumed.
There is possibly up to 137 times more catechins in matcha tea and at least three times more, than there is green tea. So, for the best chance of diet success then it is wise to opt for a cup of matcha to help improve your fast.
Matcha and all green teas can help further stimulate weight loss after exercise, making the perfect companion to any diet and exercise regime.
The caffeine found within matcha and green tea although reasonably high, is not as strong as is found in most coffees (although, obviously, a lot will depend on how strong you like your matcha). This means you won’t get the jitters that you might do when you drink a cup of joe.
Green tea and intermittent fasting were made to go together – we say it’s a great idea to enjoy a cup of matcha to set you up for the day ahead!