Q: A friend of mine recently told me that she heard that green tea can help to burn fat off of the stomach. Is that true?!
A: Your friend is actually correct. There have been two studies recently published that suggest that green tea can help to target the fat around your midsection, so you can get a flatter stomach faster. One study in mice showed that the mice following an exercise program and supplemented with green tea extract lost almost 90% more visceral fat than mice not getting green tea extract or exercising regularly. Even mice getting just green tea extract and not exercising lost about 60% more visceral fat. Visceral fat refers to the fat that accumulates in the abdominal region below the muscle. This fat has been linked to numerous diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Therefore, keeping it off is not just important to keep your stomach flat, but for your health as well. The researchers determined that the green tea extract allowed the mice to burn more fat when they exercised. A newer study also found that in human subjects those consuming a green tea extract beverage for 12 weeks while exercising lost almost 25 times more abdominal fat than those consuming a control beverage. It appears that the polyphenols in green tea, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), help the body burn more fat when exercising. And a good deal of that fat appears to be coming from the abdominal region. So definitely consider green tea to help you whittle your middle. But before you go guzzling green tea, you need to know two important tips that will help you maximize the amount of EGCG your body absorbs from green tea.
you think we only cater to men at muscleandfitness.com than you're missing out on many of Jim's great tips that can help you reach your goals. For example, want to build more defined triceps? - check out Muscle & Fitness Raw! episode #3 - Triceps Ladders. Want to get stronger on pull-ups? Check out Muscle & Fitness Raw! episode #2 - Density Training. Want a flatter stomach? Check out Muscle & Fitness Raw! episode #7 - Speed Up the Crunch. Want to burn off more fat for the summer? Check out Muscle & Fitness Raw! episode #8 - Showtime HIIT Training. Go to muscleandfitness.com now to see the whole Muscle & Fitness Raw! series.
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