A diet plan utilizing green tea for weight loss is a great idea for those who are not into counting calories or willing to spend hours in the gym. In addition, adding green tea to a weight loss program you are already on will boost the effectiveness of that plan.

Green tea has one major advantage that no other diet product I can think of has: it has a thousand-year history of use with little or no known side effects. Not only is it an all natural, side effect free product but it also has the bonus of being one of nature’s greatest health food products as studies have indicated that it reduces the risk of heart disease, lowers bad cholesterol and may even lower the risks of some forms of cancer. Can any diet pill, weight loss shake or other diet supplement those same claims? (That was a rhetorical question as the answer is no).

Green tea, from a scientific standpoint, is not much different than the tea most people make at home or find in a restaurant. The difference comes from the processing. This type of tea is steamed or baked to prevent fermentation (or oxidation) which allows the tea to retain more of the antioxidant known as ECGC. It is the EGCG that is responsible for the majority of the health and weight loss benefits of the tea.

Green tea increases weight loss by causing a rise in thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is the process by which heat is produced in the body. Thermogenesis may be the most significant component of the body’s metabolism and when you increase thermogenesis, you raise the metabolic rate; when you raise the metabolic rate, your body burns more fat and increases the amount of energy expended even when at rest. Perhaps more importantly to dieters, green tea seems to target fat cells for the additional energy being used as opposed to just a general increase in calories being burned.

Green tea is a proven weight loss product. There are many studies that show a relationship between the consumption of the tea and weight loss. In fact, a well-respected journal, The International Journal of Obesity has concluded that the extract from the tea increases the burning of calories and appears to target fat cells for that increased energy requirement.

Not only is more and more evidence of the effectiveness of green tea for weight loss purposes becoming available every month, but the health advantages of green tea make it a product you should consider even without the weight loss component. The tea has been shown to increase mental alertness; decrease the risk of heart disease; decrease the risk of some cancers; lower bad cholesterol; regulate blood glucose levels (which helps decrease the risk of diabetes); lowers the risks of Alzheimer’s and; lowers the blood pressure.

Many diet products have a short-term spike in popularity until the fad wears off. This is usually short-lived as the product usually doesn’t work as it is promised to work. Green tea weight loss, on the other hand, continues to grow in popularity simply because it really works. The sheer number of products on the market now indicates that the use of the tea (or its extract) is growing in popularity. Do an internet search and check out how many well-respected sites are singing the praises of the tea’s weight loss properties. Even the sites that don’t wholeheartedly endorse the product don’t have anything negative to say about its use (they just cite a shortage of scientific testing to confirm the product’s effectiveness).

The optimum amount of tea is still being debated. Some believe as little as three cups a day is sufficient but many others believe that ten cups is necessary to achieve the best results. Obviously, if ten cups is required, you either have to really like green tea or you will need to take a supplement with a concentration of the tea’s extract that equals ten cups. Other than the fact that the supplements cost a good deal more than the tea itself, a supplement is probably the best way to go. Either way, by cup or by capsule, using green tea for weight loss is an idea whose time has come.