Did you know that once you’ve got fat cells you can never get rid of them? When you lose weight, the size of your fat cells may decrease but the number of fat cells never does.
This makes maintaining weight loss a challenge because those fat cells, even though they are smaller once you’ve lost weight, will readily refill when you overeat for prolonged periods of time. So the best strategy is to prevent the development of new fat cells in the first place.
The good news is that recent studies have shown that there may actually be certain compounds, such as those found in green and oolong tea, that can prevent the development of new fats cells.
How we get fat
The number of fat cells that you have increases most rapidly during growing years (late childhood and puberty) and then may increase again during periods of weight gain (when we take in more energy then we expend).
This means that as adults we should avoid long periods where our energy intake (what we eat) is greater than our energy expenditure (how much physical activity we get through the day).
Obviously, weight gain is more complex than this, and can be influenced by a variety of factors but generally overeating plus little or no exercise sets the scene for the development of new fats cells.
How green and oolong tea help you lose weight
While no specific food or supplement can make up for a poor diet and lack of exercise, recent studies have shown that certain compounds in green and oolong tea may at least reduce the development of fat cells. Here’s a list of some of the anti-fat effects of green and oolong tea found in recent studies:
- reduces fat cell proliferation, fat absorption and fat mass
- reduces plasma levels of triglycerides, free fatty acids, cholesterol, glucose, insulin and leptin
- increases beta-oxidation (burning of fat) and thermogenesis
- helps with weight management in the long term.
A similar study on blueberries found that plant polyphenols – also found in green and oolong tea – may inhibit the development of fat cells.
What this means for you
So what should you conclude from these studies? If you take in more energy than you expend, you are going to gain weight. That’s the simple science behind weight gain and loss. However, it seems as though certain foods and supplements, notably green and oolong teas, may actually offer somewhat of a buffer against weight gain.
During times when you are eating more than usual, a preventative approach would be to drink at least 3 to 4 cups of high quality green and oolong tea throughout the day.
If you’ve got extra weight to lose or are trying to maintain your current weight, drinking tea will also help.
Remember that to get the maximum fat burning effect, you need to drink high quality tea. The majority of tea you find in supermarkets and specialty shops isn’t going to provide you with the compounds you need to get the anti-fat benefits of tea.
If you want to experience the anti-fat benefits of tea, we recommend PureBody’s Rev Tea.
Westerterp-Plantenga, M., Lejeune, M. and Kovacs, E. (2005). Body weight loss and weight maintenance in relation to habitual caffeine intake and green tea supplementation. Obesity Research, 13: 1195–1204. doi: 10.1038/oby.2005.142
Wolfram, S., Wang, Y. & Thielecke, F. (2006). Anti-obesity effects of green tea: From bedside to bench. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, 50: 176–187. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.200500102.
Zheng, G. (2004). Anti-obesity effects of three major components of green tea, catechins, caffeine and theanine in mice. International Journal of Experimental and Clinical Pathophysiology and Drug Research, 18(1): 55-62.