Are green tea or decaf coffee good alternatives to normal coffee? I see green tea may aid fat loss, however it does have caffeine, which raises insulin, or something.
Yes green tea preferably decaf is an excellent beverage. Very good antioxidant. Make sure you don’t get one of those Arizona Ice tea with all that sugar in it.
Green tea is a great alternative. Another is Yerba Mate is another drink you may want to try (I once had some good articles, but I can’t seem to find them).
T-mag looked into Yerba Mate and found it to be no better than other hot drinks. I don’t remember the details, but I think it was Cy who wrote about it. A search of t-mag would bring it up.
Go with the green tea. Caffeine doesn’t ‘raise insulin’ exactly. It has been said that caffeine can lower insulin sensitivity. To what degree? To a level of significance? I don’t know.
Are you actually dieting? If so, then I’d say the benefits of caffeine outweigh the potential insulin-related con.
The catechins in green tea have been found to have a number of antioxidant properties and health benefits. EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) is the most prevelant, and has the potential to both increase energy and help with fat loss. This is beyond the effects of the green tea’s caffeine content.
Drink up!
I’m a tea fanatic. Arizona does have various diet teas now, and they’re pretty good.
Navin, I’ve been dieting/cutting for a while, now. I’ve got through spells where I was totally off coffee and other times where I drank coffee before my cardio and before my workouts. I’ve seen no difference in my progress whether I was on or off coffee.
Green tea has a whole host of health benefits, as Thunder alluded to. Honestly, I should drink more than I do.
There continues to be controversy on the “Caffeine Causes a Temporary Increase in Insulin Resistence” “fact,” if we can call it that. Here are my thoughts:
Exercise is responsible for causing something called “Non-Insulin Mediated Glucose Uptake.” Carbs taken in PWO enter the muscle cells very easily/efficiently because of this physiological phenomenon. Throw in a little r-ALA for its insulin mimicking properties if you wish, but I don’t see why you can’t have the best of both worlds, increased glucose uptake PWO AND your cup of coffee (or tea) prior to your workout.
Navin,
I also read recently that the decaffination process for green tea can significantly decrease the antioxident level (as much as 70%). So, depending on how the tea is decaffinated, you might be losing some of the antioxidents your looking for. Cy Wilson gave green tea positve marks (T-Mag #197) as a fat loss aid. I’m currenly incorporating it along with Hot Roxx in a fat loss plan. You can check out the antioxident story at the URL below:
http://www.drweil.com/app/cda/drw_cda.html-command=TodayQA-questionId=300785
old dogg
I don’t worry about the amount of caffeine in green tea. The brand I’m currently drinking reports 19 mg of caffeine. What kind of effect is 19 mg of caffeine going to have? Besides, green tea has other compounds that stimulate fat loss. I drink 2-4 cups per day. It might be helping me lose fat, if anything; but I mainly drink it because it makes me feel good and for the other reported health benefits.
Decaf green tea has less antioxidants? Could you elaborate on this? I haven’t heard any talk of this. Have there been studies done to prove this or is it just a theory?
Body IQ,
I don’t understand the chemistry, but apparently the ethyl acetate used in the decaffeinating process results in the tea losing 70% of the polyphenols. The process (effervescence) that uses water and carbon dioxide only causs it to lose 5% in decaffeination. I came across it because I had the same questions as Navin. Complete text can be found from the link above.
old dogg