Coffee, Tea or …..Bean?
For Weight Loss Results
By Howard Youhanan
There’s been a lot of press recently, good, bad and ugly, about coffee, green coffee bean and green tea. So what’s the truth – and what’s the difference between them?
Caffeinated coffee is proven undeniably to stimulate your nervous system and shift your body further into its fat burning zone. Caffeine is also shown to enhance your concentration helping you have more focused, intense workouts. Have a cup about 20-30 minutes before your workout to see the effects! Tip: try not to drink too much coffee during the day as that will lessen the effects of your pre-workout coffee.
Contrary to popular belief, the green coffee bean is not found in coffee. It’s actually only present in the raw coffee beans before they are roasted. Green coffee beans are proven to accelerate weight loss by blocking carbohydrates through two mechanisms. In one study, the average person lost 11 pounds by taking this raw form of the bean. In fact green coffee bean has over 11 published clinical studies proving safety and effectiveness. Tip: make sure you look for extracts standardized to the studied dosage of 180mg chlorogenic acid and 40mg of 5-caffeoylquinic acid (the active ingredients) when buying your green coffee bean.
As green tea and green coffee bean seem similar, it’s been easy to overlook that the two are completely different. The major antioxidant in green tea extract known as EGCG has been shown to burn more calories at rest. But keep in mind that only green tea extract standardized for EGCG at 50% has been proven to work. If you take Green tea extract with lower doses of EGCG it will not have the desired effect. In just one study Green tea standardized for EGCG was shown to speed up metabolism over and above the effects of caffeine by 4%. That’s 4% more calories burned by doing nothing! The bottom line is that while green coffee bean, green tea and coffee work differently, they can effectively help you to burn fat via their unique mechanisms.
So how can you maximize your use of all 3 to get into better shape? Well, start by taking 400mg pure standardized Green Coffee bean about 30 mins before your biggest meals (in particular your higher carb meals). This is the only quantity/type of green coffee bean proven in studies to work and will help you metabolize carbs better. Take 135 mg of EGCG standardized green tea extract a couple of times throughout the day to keep your metabolism going.
Sit down at your local coffee place before your workout. Relax and focus on your gym plan while you drink your cup of coffee to get into the mental and physical zone. Don’t have a high carb or high-fat snack with your coffee as they will also impede the results. Combining these three nutrients together can be complicated but worth the effort.
Howard Youhanan, Bsc Nutrition
