Recently, there has been a lot of contention about green tea and its link with possible increase in the human metabolism. Some people say that this claim is totally invalid. These people may acquiescence that green tea have other health benefits like containing potent levels of antioxidants. But they would not agree to the supposed increase in metabolic rate. Others, on the other hand, claim that there is validity in the metabolic claim, but it is exaggerated so as to increase the marketability of green tea products. The truth is: there may be some claims that have been stretched to tailor-fit the demands of the public, particularly those seeking newer or more natural options for weight loss management. These claims are not entirely false, but they are certainly not presented as clearly as they should. So here is the real score about green tea metabolism.
For ages, people believe that green tea is an aid for digestion, or at least something to help ease the discomfort brought about by overindulgence. With our modern testing technology, it seems that there is now some medical basis to this claim. Drinking green tea helps promote easier conversion of food by indirectly enhancing the metabolic rate of the person. When we say, “indirectly,” we mean that the digestive process is a rather complicated affair. The food or drink we consume simply do not go into our mouths, down our throats and become immediate parts of our bodies. We have certain internal organs that break down everything we consume, and eventually help extract whatever nutrients is in those food and drink.
Fat Oxidation
Drinking green tea is said to help increase fat oxidation, or the decay of fats from our bodies. Fat oxidation is not simply targeted at the fatty foods that we eat; it also does not mean that the oxidation process eliminates fat cells in a jiffy. Again, we need to stress that fact that human digestion is quite complex. In truth, fat oxidation is the process where the body turns the nutrients gained from food into calories. The word “calories” is something not to be wary of. In its most basic sense, calories simply mean food energy.
This is one of the most vital steps in digestion: the part where the nutrients that our stomachs have “harvested” from the food we have eaten are finally assimilated into our blood stream in the form of simple sugars (such as glucose.) In turn, these sugars are converted into energy that our bodies can use for both movement and cognitive actions. For example, glucose is the food of the brain that serves as its very energy source.
The role of green tea in metabolism indirectly affects the speed by which these simple sugars are converted into food energy. Recent researches have pointed out that regular consumption of green tea products raises the speed of fat oxidation by 17%. This means that the body utilizes the nutrients from the food at a faster rate than normal, which should increase the energy level of the person. Such an increase in energy level should then afford the person more energy to burn off unwanted pounds by becoming more physically active or mentally alert.