Green Tea Supplements - Pros and Cons

Green tea has many health benefits. Which is the better option: beverage or green tea supplements?

The best known green tea benefit is that you get anti-oxidants when you drink it. Anti-oxidants go through your body uniting with free radicals (oxygen atoms that have lost one of their electrons) and preventing their chain reaction of cellular damage.

It also helps with weight loss. Green tea contains compounds such as caffeine and EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) that perform a number of weight loss effects:

• increase metabolism
• prevent fat storage
• burn fat
• block absorption of dietary fat
• regulate glucose levels

It is true that caffeine has a bad reputation due to side effects in some people, including insomnia and upset stomach. But caffeine helps burn fat and increases your metabolism! Green tea contains only half the caffeine that coffee does, and it contains catechins, which bind to caffeine, suppressing the side effects. Green tea gives you the benefits without the side effects.

Besides helping with weight loss, green tea supplements can help reduce the risk of obesity-related diseases like high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease.

Drink tea or supplement?

Some people enjoy drinking tea. It is not only nutritious and soothing, it is enjoyable. Others don’t care for the tea, but want the benefits, so they take the supplements. Either way, each person will need to decide what works best for them and their lifestyle.

Advantages

Some people prefer the convenience of a supplement. Some people do not like the taste of tea or the trouble of brewing cups of tea, so supplements are easy for them to take along with any other vitamins they take daily.

Disadvantages

Green tea supplements are made from lower grade leaves than the green tea used for brewing. This means you could have more contaminants in them when they are processed, which could be dangerous when consumed in large amounts.

Taking too much supplement may cause tumors and liver toxicity. Those who drink green tea seem to reap all the benefits that green tea offers, without the dangers of overdosing.

Recommendation

When buying supplements, choose one that that is standardized for its polyphenol content. If you take aspirin or other blood thinning agents, be aware that consumption of a lot of green tea may make bleeding worse. If you decide that supplements are best for your lifestyle rather than drinking the tea, be careful you don’t overdose.

For unbiased reviews of green tea extract supplements, visit Amazing Green Tea - an info-site dedicated to help you discover your next great gourmet green tea, oolong tea and white tea.