Matcha green tea can help your body burn more calories throughout the day and at rest. It can also help boost your metabolism which can help you lose weight faster. The bright green beverage is also part of the Sirtfood diet which helped singer Adele lose weight.
Dr Deborah Lee, Dr Fox Online told the Express.co.uk how incorporating green matcha tea into your diet can help accelerate weight loss.
She said: “The human body produces 7 sirtuins (SIRT1-SIRT7). These are enzymes with a virtual role in protein breakdown. Each of the 7 SIRT enzymes has a different specific function.
“The production of sirtuins is controlled by SIRT genes. These genes are activated when calories are restricted, and during episodes of fasting. However, certain foods can also switch on SIRT genes – called SIRT foods.
“Sirtuins have been extensively studied in animals, with fewer studies in humans. However, they are believed to have important and positive effects on many of the body’s protective health mechanisms.
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“They have been shown to reduce oxidative stress, support DNA repair, regulate cell metabolism, reduce tumour formation, counteract stress, and facilitate weight loss.
Dr Lee explained how many health benefits linked to the Mediterranean diet are thought to occur because of the high antioxidant content of the diet “activates SIRT genes”.
She said: “Matcha green tea is one of the SIRT foods which can switch on your SIRT genes. SIRT 6, for example, plays a major role in the control of obesity, diabetes, because of the way it influences fat metabolism.
“The health benefits of drinking tea are well known, but matcha green tea is a superior, high-grate tea, which offers a specific, nutritional advantage.
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It is made by taking young leaves and grinding them into a brighter green powder. The powder is then mixed and whisked with hot water. The leaves are kept in the shape and are usually under bushes to help lock in the nutrients.
Dr Lee explains that in order to make a matcha green tea, the water is added to the powder rather than steeping the lea leaves in boiling water. It can also be added to food.
The expert continues: “Researchers believe it is the regular consumption of catechins in tea, notably ECGC, which leads to reductions in obesity and diabetes.
“The anti-obesity effect is strongest when catechins and caffeine are combined, as in green tea. Most research has been conducted on regular green tea. However, matcha green tea contains a very much higher concentration of DCGC, combined with higher levels of caffeine.
“For example, one cup of matcha tea has the same antioxidant content as 10 cups of regular green tea. Matcha tea contains 125 times more ECGC than the super-food, spinach.”
Dr Lee explains how one to two cups of matcha green tea per day is great for weight loss and maintenance and drinking too much could be risky.
She says: “In animal studies, excessive amounts of green tea have been associated with damage to the liver and pancreas.
“Green tea contains caffeine, and caffeine consumption should be limited, especially in pregnant women.”
It can also speed up fat burning and stimulate weight loss by increasing your metabolic rate, increasing your body’s thermogenesis and increasing fat breakdown.
The expert continues: “People who drink tea regularly – including green tea – tend to have narrower waist measurements and a lower BMI.
“Because matcha green tea is a super-potent green tea, and a SIRT food, it seems highly plausible it may have an even greater effect for people trying not just to lose weight, but to keep it off…If something as simple as drinking 1-2 cups of bright green tea every day can help those of us struggling with obesity, we should welcome it with both arms!
“There are numerous, enthusiastic, matcha green tea drinkers out there, who claim to have seen the benefits.”
Source: Daily Express | Diet
