Green Tea Consumption Linked to Weight Loss and Reduction in Waist Circumference

Brazilian scientists have found that drinking green tea may help elderly people to lose weight and trim their waistline. Maria Gabriela Valle Gottlieb, of the Geriatrics and Gerontology Institute at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, and colleagues randomly assigned 45 elderly people with metabolic syndrome to one of two groups: A green tea group ( n= 24) or a control group ( n= 21). The green tea group were given sachets containing 1.0 g of green tea to drink 3 times each day for 60 days. At the end of the study results showed that those in the green tea group exhibited a “statistically significant weight loss” from an average of 71.5 kg at the start of the study to 70.3 kg at the end. No significant weight loss was observed in the control group. Furthermore, significant decreases in BMI and waist circumference were observed in both groups; however the decreases were greater in the green tea group. The researchers believe that the reported benefits of green tea consumption may be due to either its ability to increase thermogenesis or an alternative mechanism of appetite suppression.