Green Tea for Weight Control

Following previous research suggesting that green tea affects metabolism, researchers at Penn State fed obese mice epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a compound found in most green tea, and also put them on a high fat diet. Another group of mice, serving as controls, were fed the same high fat diet but no EGCG. The investigators found that the mice receiving EGCG gained weight 45 percent more slowly than the mice that didn’t get the compound. They also found that the mice on the green tea supplement showed an increase of nearly 30 percent in fecal lipid (fats), which suggested that the EGCG was limiting fat absorption. Both groups of mice ate the same amount of food - apparently the EGCG didn’t reduce the mouse appetite. To get an equivalent amount of EGCG used in this study, a human would have to drink 10 cups of green tea daily, the investigators said. But they noted that other studies have indicated drinking just a few cups of green tea daily may help with weight control.