Green-matcha
A brand new study just came out showing that green tea burns more fat!
Sweet! That sounds epic.
And it was even statistically significant.
Oh my, I am jumping into a huge vat of that green stuff right now. All aboard the train to ripped-ville I go.
Sounds too good to be true?
You would be right!
In the study (1), they compared a dose of matcha green tea vs a placebo before fasted walking. They did show that the green tea group burned more fat and it was significant; but here is the catch – the difference between groups was very small. Like a spot on a gnat’s a$$ small.
Statistically significant? Yes.
Significant in the real world? Not really.
“…Matcha resulted in lower respiratory exchange ratio (control: 0.84 ± 0.04; Matcha: 0.82 ± 0.04; p < .01) and enhanced fat oxidation during a 30-min brisk walk (control: 0.31 ± 0.10; Matcha: 0.35 ± 0.11 g/min; p < .01)” (1).
That is a difference of 0.04 grams / min of greater fat use in the green tea group.
In English, a 60 min walk after consuming matcha tea resulted in an extra 2.4 grams of fat being burned.
Total
2.4 grams
A 9 kcal/ gram that is an extra 22 kcal more burned.
To burn ONE extra pound of fat (assuming all of the fat came from body fat stores), you would need 160 sessions of walking after tea consumption (compared to just plain fasted walking).
Not that significant in the really real world.
It is still interesting and maybe if you are dialed in as tight as camel’s arse in a sandstorm getting ready to dance on stage in a banana hammock, it may matter.
Is this a great place to START? Heck no!
Lots of things are significant according to stats and practically worthless in practice.
That is why I designed the Flex Diet Cert – to help you sort out what is significant AND practical in the real world. That way you (and your clients) don’t spend time majoring in the minors. It is confusing out there with everyone shouting theories from the rooftops.
I took the top 8 interventions, everything from sleep to dietary protein to fasting, and ranked them in priority so you start with the highest leverage items first. I then dove deep to provide you a big picture view, in-depth analysis on that intervention and then 5 practical action steps you can do to apply them immediately.
Focus on the big rocks first!
Dr Mike
Reference
Willems MET, Şahin MA, Cook MD “Matcha Green Tea Drinks Enhance Fat Oxidation During Brisk Walking in Females.” Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2018 Sep 1;28(5):536-541. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2017-0237. Epub 2018 Jun 19.
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