Green Tea??? Does it work?

Hey evenone I just wondering if green tea helps with weight loss? I have been drinking 2-3 cups a day but I am not sure if this is contributing at all because I have been putting my body through hell with excerise anyway.......

Would really like your feedback :)

I easily drink 6 cups a day, cuz I hate the coffee at work. Whether or not it helps with my weight loss, who knows!

I have to say no.  I drink green tea (the good stuff, whole leaf, not pre bagged, not flavored) every day, at least 2 to 4 cups daily.  I've been drinking it for YEARS (going on 5 now).  I only started losing weight when I started counting calories and exercising a minimum of 5 days a week.  If it helped boost metabolism, it didn't do enough for me to notice a bit of difference until I started making the effort to be healthier all around.  Of course I didn't start drinking it for the metabolism boost, it was more to get myself off of coffee.  But I never noticed a difference.  

There's a few studies out that suggests it helps slightly, over and above what can be accounted for by exercise alone. A sufficiently high intake raises your BRM with about 3-5% (avg. 4.4%) or 45-75kcal/d extra on a 1500Kcal BMR.

 The equivalent calorie content of 2-3 packets of sugar in other words. Mildly helpful, but not something to rely on for major weight loss.

 In a couple studies green tea intake was associated with being somewhat protective of lean body mass in dieting populations; also a little over what aerobic/endurance exercise could account for. However, it had no additional LBM-sparing effects added to a resistance-training regimen.

 So - mildly useful; over the course of a week you could potentially see an extra loss of about 0.1lbs. It's the LBM-sparing effects and the long term extra weight loss from keeping your msucle mass that are most interesting ;)

Green tea is wonderful for you, yes. It contains a lot of "good stuff" so it's certainly a welcome addition to any diet, especially in lieu of coffee or regular tea.

That said, I don't know that it really has any real "weight loss" effects, apart from calming your stomach and soothing your hunger until the next meal. I often go for a mug of herbal tea if I want to stave off dinner for another hour or so.

Original Post by melkor:

There's a few studies out that suggests it helps slightly, over and above what can be accounted for by exercise alone. A sufficiently high intake raises your BRM with about 3-5% (avg. 4.4%) or 45-75kcal/d extra on a 1500Kcal BMR.

 The equivalent calorie content of 2-3 packets of sugar in other words. Mildly helpful, but not something to rely on for major weight loss.

 In a couple studies green tea intake was associated with being somewhat protective of lean body mass in dieting populations; also a little over what aerobic/endurance exercise could account for. However, it had no additional LBM-sparing effects added to a resistance-training regimen.

 So - mildly useful; over the course of a week you could potentially see an extra loss of about 0.1lbs. It's the LBM-sparing effects and the long term extra weight loss from keeping your msucle mass that are most interesting ;)

 green tea helps me keep muscle mass you say..... drink up I shall!

*finishes 4th cup for the day*

Studies show that green tea may help to burn a few extra calories... but nothing major, and you have to drink more then 3 cups a day or so.. it may also have fat burning effects, but the studies are so various its hard to tell if its true or not 

I think if anything it helps to curb your appetite, and keep your hands and mouth busy so that you're not snacking unnessarily.. it also contains lots of good antioxidants, and it tastes nice, and lifts your mood and energy levels.

It's a good substiture for coffee or other caffienated drinks as it contains less caffiene, but it "picks you up" without the overdose, or the added cream and sugar.

hi, I've been drinking green tea for many yrs now and although l find it a pleasurable drink l feel that  in my opinion Rooibios tea is by far better at burning off a few extra Cal's and tastes great!

There's nothing in it that would "work" except caffeine.  It's good though. 

There's no magic potion that will "work."  You just have to eat right and burn more calories than you consume, for life, not just for now.

Thank you all so much for your help... I am still going to drink green tea because it sounds really good for you! I excerise alot as it is and losing about 1-2kg a week! Very happy with my progress so far, I think green tea is aiding in making the food cravings go away and I also feel so much healthier drinking it! Again thank you so much! I love this website!

Just wanted to add that there are different varieties of green tea if the grassy/spinachy taste is not what you're in the mood for.  My old standby is Genmaicha or "Gen Mai Cha" which is green tea with bits of roasted rice.  Sometimes you'll find an exploded rice that looks like little bits of popcorn.  The rice adds a nice toasty, nutty flavor to the tea-- the first time I tried it I thought there must be ground sesame in it.  It's easy to find online or in Asian grocery stores.