Green tea, biologically known as camellia sinensis, has been used for centuries in Asian countries for weight loss. Unlike black tea, which is made from fermented leaves, green tea is produced by steaming fresh leaves. This process ensures a higher content of polyphenols like EGCG, which is a flavonol. While black tea contains 3-10% polyphenols, the green tea contains 30-40%.
Benefits of Green Tea
Because of its high polyphenols content, green tea has been endorsed to having all kinds of health benefits – right from normalizing blood pressure, lowering your risk for cancer, keeping you mentally alert, preventing or alleviating rheumatoid arthritis, eliminating heartburn, lowering cholesterol levels, helping with weight loss, to fighting various diseases. Known for its high levels of antioxidants, green tea helps reduce the level of damage caused by free radicals.
Lose Weight with Green Tea
Green tea’s calorie-burning properties lie in its mechanism of action to increase thermogenesis, or heat production, necessary for effective weight loss. This is done by influencing the enzymes involved in the metabolic process. The EGCG present in green tea increases the amount of calories burned throughout the day; this happens with all activities, which include food digestion to climbing stairs through to typing. However, the effect of green tea is not likely to melt pounds off overnight; this means that you will not see instant results with it.
Green Tea Increases the Metabolic Rate
The effect of EGCG on weight loss and metabolism has been studied; it shows encouraging results. In one study, the green tea extract caused a 4% boost in metabolism. In another study, people who used green tea fortified with EGCG saw more pronounced weight loss as compared to people given unfortified tea.
If you enjoy drinking green tea and want to lose weight, you are likely to gain from your tea drinking habit. If you want to try adding green tea to your diet plan, keep in mind that the biologically active polyphenols in it may interfere with the medications you take. Your pharmacist or doctor can advise you on this issue. Continue to enjoy your daily dose of green tea and wait for the weight loss to occur over time.
Obesity and Depression
Posted by : Nicole Smith | Monday, May 3, 2010 | Published in
People who are ‘fat but happy’ are more likely the exception rather than the rule. Obesity appears to be linked to a raised risk of depression according to new research published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. In fact, obesity increases the risk of developing depression over time by as much as 55% in some people.
What’s the correlation?
Obesity, if considered to be an inflammatory state, this state can enhance the risk of depression. It contributes to body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem which in turn places individuals at increased risk for depression. Conversely, depression may increase weight over time through interference with the endocrine system or the adverse effects of antidepressant medications.
Obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher, increases the likelihood of major depression by 25%. Although the risk of depression over a lifetime is about 20%, the study indicated that it can go up to 55% in people who are obese, a statistically significant difference. In fact, one expert even suggested that the two conditions are bi-directional and so inter-linked. In addition, increased desire to eat and weight gain are common symptoms of depression. Also, medications prescribed for depression or anxiety disorders can encourage weight gain.
Can this shorten life spans?
Both depression and obesity are wide spread problems and both come with major public health implications. Because of the high prevalence of both these conditions, and the fact that they both carry an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, it has been presumed that a person’s life span is affected by both of them.
It is a well established fact that the loss of self-esteem is associated with the stigma of obesity; this can contribute to depression, especially among women. In addition, excess weight increases the risk of psychological problems, because it also increases your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, kidney disease and cancer. If obesity and depression are left unchecked, health experts fear that it could lead to a general decline in the life expectancy of people suffering from both health conditions, so in case of obesity people must consult a doctor for proper weight loss treatment.
What’s the correlation?
Obesity, if considered to be an inflammatory state, this state can enhance the risk of depression. It contributes to body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem which in turn places individuals at increased risk for depression. Conversely, depression may increase weight over time through interference with the endocrine system or the adverse effects of antidepressant medications.
Obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher, increases the likelihood of major depression by 25%. Although the risk of depression over a lifetime is about 20%, the study indicated that it can go up to 55% in people who are obese, a statistically significant difference. In fact, one expert even suggested that the two conditions are bi-directional and so inter-linked. In addition, increased desire to eat and weight gain are common symptoms of depression. Also, medications prescribed for depression or anxiety disorders can encourage weight gain.
Can this shorten life spans?
Both depression and obesity are wide spread problems and both come with major public health implications. Because of the high prevalence of both these conditions, and the fact that they both carry an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, it has been presumed that a person’s life span is affected by both of them.
It is a well established fact that the loss of self-esteem is associated with the stigma of obesity; this can contribute to depression, especially among women. In addition, excess weight increases the risk of psychological problems, because it also increases your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, kidney disease and cancer. If obesity and depression are left unchecked, health experts fear that it could lead to a general decline in the life expectancy of people suffering from both health conditions, so in case of obesity people must consult a doctor for proper weight loss treatment.
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