Dr Zoe Williams discusses visceral fat on This Morning
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Visceral fat, also known as belly fat, encroaches on important organs in the body, such as the liver, stomach, kidneys, and intestines. This precarious positioning puts you at risk of chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Finding ways to reduce the belly fat is therefore vital.
Diet offers a potent weapon against the deadly fat and specific items have proven particularly effective.
According to a study published in the journal Obesity, green tea packs properties that get at visceral fat.
Green tea is made from the Camellia Sinensis – the same plant that black tea hails from.
For the study, the body fat reducing effect and reduction of risks for cardiovascular disease by a green tea extract high in catechins was investigated in humans with typical lifestyles.
Green tea contains a group of antioxidants called polyphenols, which make up to 30 percent of its dry weight. Most of these are flavonols, commonly known as catechins.
Green tea catechins have been subject to many studies, with scientists becoming more and more interested in catechins’ ability to aid fat loss.
To investigate the anti-obesity effects of catechins, Japanese women and men with visceral fat-type obesity were recruited for the trial.
A 12-week double-blind trial was performed, in which the subjects ingested green tea containing 583 mg of catechins (catechin group) or 96 mg of catechins (control group) per day.
DON’T MISS
Covid: The activity that makes you ‘twice’ as likely to catch it [INSIGHT]
High cholesterol: Symptoms to spot on your face – doctor [ADVICE]
Live longer: The warm drink which protects against heart disease [TIPS
In a double-blind trial, neither the participants nor the researcher knows which treatment or intervention participants are receiving until the clinical trial is over.
The subjects were instructed to maintain their usual dietary intake and normal physical activity.
What did the researchers find out?
Decreases in visceral fat area and subcutaneous fat area were found to be greater in the catechin group than in the control group.
Subcutaneous fat is the fat that lies just beneath the surface of the skin.
Crucially, visceral fat area “decreased significantly over time”, the researchers observed.
The benefits did not stop there. Greater decreases in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and LDL cholesterol were found in the catechin group compared with the control group.
LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure are precursors to heart disease that often come hand in hand with visceral fat build-up.
What accounts for this anti-obesity effect?
Recent findings from human studies have found that consuming green tea and green tea extracts may help to reduce body weight and fat, by increasing our bodies’ metabolism and fat oxidisation.
One study on obese males found that EGCG – a specific type of catechins – alone has the potential to increase fat oxidisation in humans.
Participants who were given 300mg of EGCG for two days experienced increased fat oxidisation than those given a placebo.
A lot of studies into green tea use green tea extract, which is more potent than a cup of brewed green tea.
“That’s not to say you can’t match the content of green tea extract with the drink, you’ll just have to drink more,” notes Holland and Barrett.
Source: Read Full Article
