Reducing Cholesterol And Body Fat With Tea
ol, heart disease and obesity are serious health
issues, and seem to go hand in hand. A diet heavy in high
cholesterol foods like meat, cheese and eggs can cause weight
gain and high cholesterol levels. High cholesterol levels and
being overweight, in turn, lead to heart disease. So, getting
cholesterol levels and weight under control are significant
factors in reducing the risk of heart disease.
To reduce cholesterol levels and take off extra pounds, reduce
the amount of red meats in your diet, replacing them with
poultry and fish. Eat low fat dairy products, and limit your
intake of egg yolks. Eat high fiber, whole grain products like
oatmeal, as these can help reduce cholesterol levels.
Be certain that you’re eating lots of fruits and vegetables -
fresh is best, and avoid processed foods. These dietary changes
should help you lose excess weight and lower your cholesterol
levels.
In addition to dietary changes, exercise is very important in
weight maintenance and lowering cholesterol. Aim for 30 minutes
of cardiovascular activity 3-5 times a week (walking is fine).
In addition, 20 minutes of strength training 3 times a week is
also beneficial. Strength training helps you tone and build
muscle.
Since muscle burns more calories than fat even at rest, adding
some extra muscle speeds up your metabolism, which helps you
maintain, or reduce, your weight. In addition, since we all
begin to lose some muscle mass each year beginning as early as
age 30, building muscle helps compensate for this loss, keeping
you strong as you age.
Tea May Help, Too
In addition to making changes to your diet and exercise habits,
drinking tea may be helpful, too. In the last few years, there
has been a great deal of research on the benefits of tea. Tea
is rich in anti-oxidants, which are known to slow down the
aging process and prevent disease. Studies have shown tea,
particularly green tea, to be effective at preventing heart
disease and some forms of cancer.
Green tea is found to be more effective than other types of tea
because of the way it’s processed. Green tea is not fermented,
which helps to keep the anti-oxidants in their most natural,
healthy state.
In addition to helping prevent disease, tea has also been shown
to be an effective way to help lose weight. Tea contains
caffeine, which has been shown in many studies to speed the
metabolism. However, tea has been shown to be a more effective
weight loss supplement than other beverages that contain
caffeine.
So, researchers have concluded that it is more than just the
caffeine that makes tea so effective. It is believed that it is
the combination of tea’s caffeine and its anti-oxidants, known
as catechins, that work together to help with weight loss.
In addition to speeding up metabolism, it is also believed that
tea can promote the oxidation of fat, making weight loss come
more easily. Tea also seems to regulate insulin levels in the
blood, which may be of benefit to those whose weight has made
them insulin resistant, a precursor to diabetes.
People with insulin resistance are often overweight and have
trouble losing the weight because the body doesn’t process
insulin properly.
One research study on this subject is particularly interesting.
The study looked at Japanese men and measured their body fat and
LDL cholesterol levels. First, the participants were put on a
monitored diet for a two week period of time. Then the
participants were divided into groups with similar BMIs and
waist circumference.
The study period was 12 weeks, during which time the
participants ate a controlled diet and received one of two
beverages as a supplement. The beverages were either oolong tea
containing 690 milligrams of tea catechins or oolong tea
containing 22 milligrams of tea catechins.
At the end of the study period, the subjects were evaluated on
fat loss, body weight, BMI and LDL cholesterol levels.
Participants who received the tea supplement containing 690
milligrams of tea catechins had significantly lower body
weight, BMI, body fat and cholesterol levels over the
participants who received the tea containing 22 milligrams of
tea catechins.
The study concluded that with similar diet and exercise
routines, drinking tea produced better weight loss results and
lowered cholesterol more than diets that did not contain such
high levels of tea catechins.
It’s important to note that this study did not measure the
effects of tea’s caffeine on participants. In fact, the oolong
tea consumed by each group contained the same amount of
caffeine. So, this study leads us to believe that it is the tea
catechins rather than the caffeine that produces weight loss
results.
Many people take supplements for weight loss, and many of them
prove to have negative side effects or to be unhealthy overall.
This is another reason that using tea as a weight loss
supplement is preferable to relying on other types of
supplements. Tea is generally healthy and has no side effects.
In fact, most people who are normally sensitive to caffeine can
tolerate tea’s caffeine without experiencing side effects. So,
if you’re working to control your weight and cholesterol
levels, there may be no better ally than drinking some tea.
About The Author: Marcus Stout is President of the Golden Moon
Tea Company. For more information about tea, green tea and
black tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com
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