People looking to lose weight are often eager to hear any trick to facilitate weight loss. One way to help speed up weight loss is to find ways to speed up your metabolism so that more calories are burned in a day.
Research has shown that caffeine is effective in speeding up your metabolism, so you burn more calories. According to the Mayo Clinic, caffeine stimulates many bodily functions, including heart rate, central nervous system function, and metabolism. Also, caffeine can decrease your appetite in the short term. Therefore, adding caffeine can be an effective way to boost weight loss. However, there are a few things to consider:
You may not see any effect if you are already a caffeine user. If caffeine is already a part of your daily diet, you will likely need very high doses of caffeine to boost your metabolism above the level where it already works. However, those who do not consume caffeine on a regular basis may see some benefit.
You need to be careful where the caffeine comes from. If you start getting caffeine from sugary sodas, you are likely to gain weight rather than lose it. However, if you get the caffeine from coffee, tea, and unsweetened sodas, you may see some results.
You must consider your other health problems. If you already suffer from an irregular heart rate or high blood pressure, your doctor may have warned you to stay away from caffeine. If this is the case, caffeine may not be safe for you. Be sure to speak with your doctor before adding caffeine.
What if I am sensitive to caffeine?
Many people steer clear of caffeine because they find that too much caffeine causes insomnia or nervousness. For these people, supplementing with caffeine for weight loss may seem unreasonable. However, there is a form of caffeine that seems to be well tolerated by those who are normally sensitive to caffeine.
Green tea may be the answer
Green tea may be the best way to get caffeine for weight loss. Although green tea contains caffeine, it is found in smaller amounts than many other beverages. Additionally, the caffeine in green tea appears to be better tolerated by people sensitive to caffeine than other caffeinated beverages. This is believed to be due to the antioxidants in green tea.
These antioxidants, in addition to making caffeine less of a problem, also offer a myriad of health benefits. The antioxidants in green tea have been shown to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease and some forms of cancer. Therefore, even if you do not lose weight from drinking green tea, it is a healthy habit that you should add to your diet.
But the best news is that in addition to being healthy and well tolerated by those sensitive to caffeine, green tea may be the best way to get caffeine for weight loss. This is because studies have shown that green tea is more effective in promoting weight loss than other caffeinated beverages. The combination of caffeine and antioxidants in green tea appears to be more effective in promoting weight loss than caffeine alone.
A major study on this topic was reported by the Obesity Research Group. In this study, ninety overweight men and women were studied. First, the group went on a low-calorie diet for four weeks. Subjects were divided into low caffeine users and high caffeine users. At the end of the four week diet period, the subjects were placed on a weight maintenance program.
During this period of weight maintenance, subjects received either a green tea / caffeine supplement or a placebo. Within the groups, both high caffeine eaters and low caffeine eaters received the green tea / caffeine supplement. The weight maintenance period lasted 3 months.
At the end of the study, the results were as follows:
o Caffeine users in general appeared to have higher levels of satiety and lower levels of leptin, which helped accelerate weight loss.
o During the weight loss period, caffeine users lost more weight than non-caffeine users.
o During the weight maintenance period, the low-caffeine consumers who received the green tea / caffeine supplement maintained more weight than the low-caffeine consumers who received the placebo. In fact, many of them continued to lose weight.
o During the weight maintenance period, the high caffeine consumers who received the green tea / caffeine supplement did not report a significantly higher success rate in maintaining weight than the high caffeine consumers who received the placebo.
While more research is needed to really determine how green tea and caffeine can help with weight loss and maintenance, it appears that consuming green tea and other forms of caffeine can help you lose weight. In particular, caffeine and green tea can be especially effective for those who don’t consume a lot of caffeine on a regular basis. And, since green tea is a well-tolerated form of caffeine by most people sensitive to caffeine, green tea may be the best way to use caffeine as a weight loss aid.
You have nothing to lose by adding green tea to your diet. It is healthy, refreshing, and has no side effects. And even those who are sensitive to other forms of caffeine can generally drink green tea without experiencing unpleasant side effects. So, see if green tea can help you in your weight loss efforts!