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Findings suggest that EGCG reduces the ability to absorb fat while also enhancing the ability to use fat.
by Robert Goldman MD, PhD
Obese mice who got a daily dose of epigallocatechin-3-gallate—a compound found in green tea—in conjunction with a high-fat diet, gained weight significantly more slowly than a control mice that got the same diet but without the added EGCG. The results of the study, which was conducted by Joshua Lambert, assistant professor of food science at Penn State University, and colleagues, showed that the mice receiving EGCG gained weight 45 percent more slowly than the control mice, despite eating the same amount of food.
The results also showed that the EGCG mice exhibited nearly a 30 percent increase in fecal lipids. Taken together, those findings suggest that EGCG reduces the ability to absorb fat while also enhancing the ability to use fat. The researchers say that a person would need to drink approximately 10 cups of green tea a day to get the same dose of EGCG as that used in the study, but they add that there is evidence to suggest that drinking a few cups of green tea each day might help to control body weight. “Human data—and there’s not a lot at this point—shows that tea drinkers who only consume one or more cups a day will see effects on bodyweight compared to nonconsumers,” concludes Lambert.
Lambert, J.D., et al. (2011). Epigallocatechin-3-gallate inhibits pancreatic lipase and reduces body weight gain in high-fat-fed obese mice. published online ahead of print in Obesity (Silver Spring), June 2, 2011.
—Dr. Bob Goldman
by Robert Goldman MD, PhD
Obese mice who got a daily dose of epigallocatechin-3-gallate—a compound found in green tea—in conjunction with a high-fat diet, gained weight significantly more slowly than a control mice that got the same diet but without the added EGCG. The results of the study, which was conducted by Joshua Lambert, assistant professor of food science at Penn State University, and colleagues, showed that the mice receiving EGCG gained weight 45 percent more slowly than the control mice, despite eating the same amount of food.
The results also showed that the EGCG mice exhibited nearly a 30 percent increase in fecal lipids. Taken together, those findings suggest that EGCG reduces the ability to absorb fat while also enhancing the ability to use fat. The researchers say that a person would need to drink approximately 10 cups of green tea a day to get the same dose of EGCG as that used in the study, but they add that there is evidence to suggest that drinking a few cups of green tea each day might help to control body weight. “Human data—and there’s not a lot at this point—shows that tea drinkers who only consume one or more cups a day will see effects on bodyweight compared to nonconsumers,” concludes Lambert.
Lambert, J.D., et al. (2011). Epigallocatechin-3-gallate inhibits pancreatic lipase and reduces body weight gain in high-fat-fed obese mice. published online ahead of print in Obesity (Silver Spring), June 2, 2011.
—Dr. Bob Goldman