Fire up your body’s natural fat-burning furnace

The key to weight-loss success is pretty cut and dry: Burn fat to lose weight.

But many times, that’s all much easier said than done.

Luckily, new research shows there’s an all-natural way to gain a significant edge when beginning a weight-loss plan. And it’s been hiding in plain sight for years.

Weight loss benefits — and much more

The “secret” is green tea. Or more specifically, a key component of green tea. I’ll dive into more about that in a moment.

But first, let’s look at a recent study from Taipei City Hospital in Taiwan. Researchers randomly assigned either high-dose (856 mg per day) green tea extract (GTE) or placebo to more than 100 obese women.

After 12 weeks of intervention, the researchers reported in the journal Clinical Nutrition that the women in the GTE group lost weight, lowered their body mass index, and reduced their waist circumference, compared to the placebo group.

In addition, GTE participants experienced three more benefits:

  • Lower LDL cholesterol
  • Reduced levels of ghrelin (the “hunger” hormone that stimulates appetite)
  • Higher levels of adiponectin (a hormone that promotes fat burning and increases insulin sensitivity)

Another study suggests that combining exercise with GTE might prompt even greater benefits.

In a study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 12 healthy men performed a 30-minute cycling exercise of moderate intensity after taking a GTE supplement.

Compared to when they repeated the test with a placebo, they burned fat at a 17 percent higher rate with GTE. They also had a 13 percent increase in insulin sensitivity.

In both of these studies — and in other similar trials — no adverse side effects of GTE supplementation were reported.

Harness this natural effect

There’s a simple reason why fat oxidation is known as “fat burning.” It’s based on a process known as thermogenesis.

In Dr. Michael Murray’s Natural Weight Loss Protocol, he reveals that the benefits of green tea lie in its considerable thermogenic effects. And these effects are prompted by a powerful antioxidant catechin in green tea called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

“In lean individuals,” Dr. Murray says, “a meal may stimulate up to a 40 percent increase in heat production or thermogenesis. In contrast, the very same meal consumed by an overweight individual will likely produce only a 10 percent or less increase in heat production.”

And with a weaker thermogenic effect, overweight people store food energy instead of converting it to heat.

This is where green tea or green tea extract can help jumpstart the process of fat burning.

Getting insulin sensitivity on track

As important as thermogenesis is, Dr. Murray notes that the catechins in green tea prompt several other highly beneficial mechanisms, including:

  • Boosting of fat cell derived hormones, like leptin and adiponectin, that enhance the action of insulin
  • Increased burning of fat for energy (not just heat)
  • Less fat absorption
  • Reduction in formation of fat cells

Dr. Murray adds that this cluster of benefits prompts even more: “These effects in turn lead to activation of a liver enzyme (AMPK) that helps burn fat and further improve blood sugar control.”

Of course, when blood sugar is controlled, insulin sensitivity improves. And that’s the key to boosting metabolism and burning fat.

“Improving the action of insulin,” Dr. Murray says, “goes a long way in re-establishing ‘normal’ thermogenesis in overweight individuals.”

Dosage makes the difference

To get the full benefits of green tea, Dr. Murray notes that a generous dosage is critical.

So while drinking a few cups of green tea each day might be helpful, they won’t really provide the powerful boost you’re looking for.

Dr. Murray explains: “A regular cup of green tea may contain anywhere from 30 to 80 mg of catechins (as well as 30-50 mg of caffeine). Green tea extracts are now commercially available that contain 70 to 99 percent catechin content without the caffeine.”

To produce a truly potent weight loss effect, he recommends that the intake of catechins should be in excess of 540 mg daily.

In addition to the benefits of green tea, you can learn about many more effective weight loss strategies in Dr. Murray’s Natural Weight Loss Protocol. Click here to learn more about this online learning tool or to enroll today.

SOURCES

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26093535
Therapeutic effect of high-dose green tea extract on weight reduction: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Clinical Nutrition
June 2016

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18326618
Green tea extract ingestion, fat oxidation, and glucose tolerance in healthy humans.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
March 2008