Green Tea Extract May Promote Weight Loss

Several researchers have studied green tea and its potential as a weight management beverage, focusing on epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a compound in green tea that has been found to increase energy metabolism and fatty acid oxidation. A team of Swiss and German researchers enrolled ten healthy overweight/obese males (body mass index 31.3+/- 0.8 kg/m2). The men were randomly assigned them to one of five groups: placebo, low-dose EGCG (300 mg), high-dose EGCG (600 mg), caffeine (200 mg), or EGCG plus caffeine (300 mg/200 mg). The men took the supplements for three days, followed by a seven-day washout, then changed over to another of the five groups.  By the end of the study, all the men had participated in each group.  The researchers found that during two hours after a meal, the low-dose EGCG supplementation was associated with a 33% increase in fat oxidation, whereas the high-dose EGCG supplementation resulted in a 20% increase (as compared to placebo).  While caffeine alone was associated with a 34.5% increase, the combined EGCG/ caffeine supplement boosted fat oxidation by 49%.  The team concludes that: “Low EGCG increases postprandial fat oxidation in obese men … Fasting fat oxidation is increased only by caffeine (with or without EGCG).”