The Origins Of Green Tea
Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the world's most popular beverages. Heavily associated with the Far East, these days it is even grown in places like Portugal and the country of Georgia. Due to its widespread popularity and extensive cultivation, there are many different varieties of green tea. The most popular and well known come from China, followed by Japan, Taiwan and Korea.
China accounts for about 80% of the global green tea market, but Japan's matcha tea has exploded in popularity in the past decade. Matcha lattes are now offered at most major coffee chains and culinary matcha is thrown into everything from cookies to cakes to smoothies.
However, if you're looking to add green tea into your weight loss regimen, your best bet is to find an organic, pure green tea product. This could be a traditional green tea, a ceremonial grade matcha or even a green tea concentrate as a supplement. All of these will give you the metabolism boost you're seeking, not to mention the many other health benefits that green tea offers.
The Unique Nutritional Profile Of Green Tea
Green tea contains caffeine, catechins (epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin gallate), L-theanine, quercetin, kaempferol, myricitin, saponins, tannins, GABA, flourine, chlorophyll, and small amounts of vitamins and minerals. (1) (2)
Green Tea Gently Boosts Your Energy Level
The caffeine in a cup or two of green tea will give you an energy kick, but perhaps not on the same level as a strong espresso or a cup of yerba mate or guayusa. If you really want to feel it, then buying the extract in supplement form is a better option. If you do enjoy green tea as a beverage but wish it gave you the same punching power as an espresso or some of the other fat burners mentioned here, then buying some ceremonial grade matcha is a great choice. It tastes wonderful, but because you'll be consuming the whole leaf instead of just the hot water extraction, the caffeine content will be higher, resulting in a similar effect to what you'd get out of a green tea extract supplement.
EGCG And Caffeine Is A Potent Fat Burning Combination
"Recent data from human studies indicate that the consumption of green tea and green tea extracts may help reduce body weight, mainly body fat, by increasing postprandial thermogenesis and fat oxidation." (3) It appears that besides the caffeine, green tea contains other compounds that work with your body to burn fat. One of the main ones doing the heavy lifting is epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG for short. (4) (5) Animals studies on mice using EGCG supplementation have also shown anti-obesity effects. (6) (7)
Is Green Tea Safe To Drink?
Sipping on a cup or two or even three of green tea on most days is generally considered a healthy habit. Besides its metabolism boosting properties mentioned above, green tea has numerous other health benefits for the human body. For example it has been shown in studies to reduce breast cancer risk in women (8), prostate cancer in men (9), and colorectal cancer in both genders (10). Green tea, or more specifically the EGCG in green tea, has even shown potential to inhibit COVID-19. (11)
Clearly, incorporating green tea into your fat loss routine comes with a lot of good. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't potential speed bumps to watch out for. Besides the obvious potential to consume too much caffeine, there is also a rare chance of causing liver damage if you opt for a green tea extract supplement and you overdo it. Combining green tea with other stimulants - even those that don't contain caffeine - can also adversely elevate your blood pressure and heart rate. Although these risks are unlikely to happen with most people, it's worth noting them so you're aware.
Lastly, with matcha green tea in particular, because it's significantly more concentrated, it's also easy to consume too much of the beneficial plant compounds to the point where they place unnecessary stress on your liver and kidneys. In addition, because you consume the entire green tea leaf when you drink matcha, you are also more susceptible to toxicity from flouride, arsenic and other pollutants if the green tea was grown in poor soil conditions. (12) (13) (14) This is why it's especially important to choose organic when buying matcha, because it can help reduce your chances of buying an inferior product.
Some Of Our Favorite Green Tea Choices
It's impossible to narrow down all of the world's great green teas into just a few choices, but if you want a good starting point, then check out our suggestions below.
Three Of Our Favorite Green Teas And Green Tea Extract Supplements
The first for sipping with a mild effect. The second for performance and fat burning purposes. The third for a combination of the two.
Green Tea For Health And Enjoyment
Fukamushi Deep Steamed Green Tea, Loose Leaf, 2.4oz
Natural Source Of Caffeine
From Shizuoka Japan
First Flush, Gold Grade
Mildly Energetic + Rich In Antioxidants
Green Tea Extract
Fat Burner Stack
Premium Green Tea Extract Fat Burner with EGCG, 60 Capsules
Green Tea Leaf Extract
Caffeine Anhydrous
Garcinia Cambogia (50% HCA)
Raspberry Ketones + Green Coffee
Ceremonial Grade Matcha For Burning Fat
Matcha Green Tea Powder, First Harvest, Ceremonial Grade, 1.06oz
Naturally Occurring Caffeine
L-Theanine
Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG)
Pre-Workout With Health Benefits
Three Of Our Favorite
Green Teas + Green Tea Extract Supplements
The 1st - for enjoyment + good health
The 2nd - for performance + fat loss
The 3rd - for enjoyment + performance + fat loss
Green Tea
For Health And Enjoyment
Fukamushi Deep Steamed Green Tea, Loose Leaf, 2.4oz
Natural Source Of Caffeine
From Shizuoka Japan
First Flush, Gold Grade
Mildly Energetic + Rich In Antioxidants
Green Tea Extract
Fat Burner Stack
Premium Green Tea Extract Fat Burner with EGCG, 60 Capsules
Green Tea Leaf Extract
Caffeine Anhydrous
Garcinia Cambogia (50% HCA)
Raspberry Ketones + Green Coffee
Ceremonial Grade Matcha
For Burning Fat
Matcha Green Tea Powder, First Harvest, Ceremonial Grade, 1.06oz
Naturally Occurring Caffeine
L-Theanine
Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG)
Pre-Workout With Health Benefits
If you're looking to add green tea into your regimen as a preworkout, then a cup of regular green tea might not give you the 'umph' that you're looking for. You will still get health benefits and a moderate boost to your weight loss efforts, but to really feel a strong preworkout effect, you'll most likely need to use either the extract in supplement form or an organic, ceremonial grade match. Just be careful not to overdo it.
Coffee
The world’s most popular pick me up beverage doesn’t require much of an introduction, but there are some useful things you should know about it.
Cordyceps
Wild grown, high altitude Cordyceps runs for about $50,000 for one kilogram, or about $10 for one single piece. Don't worry, you can get it for much less.
Yerba Mate
Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) or Mate for short, is a popular tea alternative with a long drinking history in the South American country of Paraguay.
Guarana
Guarana (Paullinia cupana) is a fruit, although the word is interchangeably used to refer to its seeds and to soft drinks where it is the active ingredient.
Guayusa
Guayusa (Ilex guayusa) is in the same family as Yerba Mate and it's been used by humans for at least 1,500 years according to archeological evidence.
Yohimbine
Pausinystalia yohimbe, is one of several different plant species in the pausinystalia family that contain yohimbine, a potent fat burner.