Blog Entry #72
By Admin – Steroidal.com
Green tea, resveratrol and grape seed extract are very common ingredients in dietary supplements aimed towards slimming and fat loss. However, these compounds also have a host of health benefits. The positive effects of green tea, resveratrol and grape seed extract are pretty well known, but to recap.
Green tea originates from China and India and is used medicinally in these countries and has been for centuries. Green tea has been shown to help control bleeding and heal wounds, aid digestion, improve heart and mental health and regulate body temperature. Green tea has also been shown to be a potent anti-oxidant, prevent cancers and treat weight loss disorders and type 2 diabetes. We have also written previously about green tea’s effects on testosterone and longevity. EGCG (Epigallocatechin gallate) is the compound in green tea isolated to enhance fat loss, which is what we’re going to discuss more in depth later.
Resveratrol is a polyphenol plant based compound, found in grapes, blueberries, red wine, cranberries and peanuts. Resveratrol has been shown to have positive effects on cholesterol, prevent cancers, heart disease, and reduce estrogen and cancers.
Similar to resveratrol, grape seed extract is found in the skin of grapes and is a potent anti-oxidant, with similar health benefits. Grape seed extract may help with a type of poor circulation (chronic venous insufficiency) and high cholesterol. Grape seed extract also reduces swelling caused by injury and helps with eye disease related to diabetes and cancer prevention.
What we want to look at today is these above three compounds effects on fat loss and slimming.
Researchers in Netherlands at the University of Maastricht, published a study on December 2013 looking at the slimming effects of a supplement containing the above compounds and phenols.
Eighteen men and women who were over weight with an average BMI of 28, took either capsules containing no active ingredients (placebo), 282 mg EGCG, 200 mg resveratrol, 92 mg grape seed extract and 25 mg polyphenols, or EGCG, grape seed extract and resveratrol, phenols and soya isoflavones. These combinations of were taken for three days.
On the third day the researchers tested to see how many calories the subjects were burning. Energy expenditure was tested both before eating [pre-meal] and after containing a primary fat meal replacement [post-meal].
When the researchers looked at the effects of the combination of EGCG, resveratrol, grape seed extract and wine phenols, they found the subjected burned 0.05 kilocalories per minute more than placebo if the combination was consumed prior to eating. The fat loss effects were also slowed or blunted when soya isoflavones were added to the mix.
Energy expenditure was accelerated by 0.02 kilocalories per minute when EGCG, resveratrol, grape seed extract and wine phenols compared to the placebo. When soya isoflavones were added to the mix, interestingly this increase the rate post-meal to 0.03 kilocalories.
“We demonstrated for the first time that combined E+R supplementation for 3 days significantly increased fasting and postprandial EE, which was accompanied by improved metabolic flexibility in men but not in women. Addition of soy isoflavones partially reversed these effects possibly due to their higher lipolytic potential”, the researchers write. “The present findings may imply that long-term supplementation of these dosages of epigallocatechin-gallate combined with resveratrol may improve metabolic health and body weight regulation”.
We conclude that dietary supplements containing the four main active ingredients in this study may enhance fat loss, and would be a good starting point when attempting to use an over the counter slimming aid when wanting to cut excess body fat.
Source:
Int J Obes (Lond). 2013 Dec 9. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2013.231.
