650Some Medical Facts behind the Oprah Green Tea Diet
posted on December 18th, 2009
As with so many overnight success stories, the Perricone Prescription — better known as the Oprah green tea diet — came to the world’s attention on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah’s guest was the highly respected Dr. Nicholas Perricone, writer of many books, including the Perricone Prescription that described the medical research behind the impressive fat burning properties of green tea and green tea extract.
During his appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Perricone declared that replacing coffee with green tea could help a dieter lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks. How is it possible to lose weight with green tea alone? According to Dr. Perricone (and we have found numerous medical research studies back this up), green tea and green tea extract contain phytochemicals that perform at least 3 functions in the body that boost weight loss.
1. Green tea regulates glucose and insulin levels. Quick spikes of insulin tell the body it needs to store store fat. As Dr. Perricone puts it, “elevated insulin puts a lock on body fat.” Coffee, on the other hand, contains an ingredient that raises blood sugar and, in turn, insulin levels. Green tea moderates blood sugar itself, preventing the production of surplus insulin. “If you do nothing else but substitute coffee with green tea, your insulin levels will drop and you will lose weight,” says Dr. Perricone.
2. Green tea promotes metabolism. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition released a medical research study in which metabolism rates were elevated by 4% in a 24 hour period. A phytochemical in green tea lifts thermogenic activity in the body (the rate at which your body burns calories). This phytochemical also raises levels of oxidation of body fat (the burning of fat cells).
3. Green tea trims appetite. Fat loss of 21% of body weight was measured in laboratory mice in a University of Chicago study. The researchers concluded that the fat loss was due to sizeable loss of appetite and diminished food consumption. While Dr. Perricone has not referred to appetite suppression as a benefit of green tea, several other studies have also proclaimed this theory.
Green tea and green tea extract (green tea extract is simply a concentrated form of the effective ingredients in green tea) boast numerous other health benefits, which may not directly impact weight loss, but which are excellent tonics and health aids. Green tea has been found to lower cholesterol levels, lower high blood pressure, prevent a variety of cancers and preclude or repair liver impairment.
