Caffeine exercise and obesity. Could adding in a few cups of green tea help with your fat burning & sports performance?
Whenever I come across a fellow clinical nutritionist with a passion for research it is always great to share such evidence-based findings. Vanessa Emslie has an M.Sc from Middlesex University in the UK. As part of her MSc in nutrition, Vanessa wrote a 10,000-word dissertation discussing the effects of Caffeine and exercise and therefore obesity and lipid management.
Here are some of the findings of Vanessa’s research:
Obesity is an epidemic
“Obesity (OBy), a disease of the 21st Century, is now an epidemic (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2014), and estimates are predicting more than half (57.8%) or 3.3 billion adults in the world’s population will be OW or obese (OB) by 2030 (Kelly et al., 2008). In developing countries, the prevalence of OBy continues to rise, with increasing rates of OBy are now being observed in children of younger ages (WHO, 2014).”
Caffeine appears to amplify fat burning
“Caffeine generally appears to amplify lipolysis (fat burning) effects when an intervention includes physical exercise and dietary changes. It also has been demonstrated to amplify thermogenic supplementation of green tea compounds and others, with increased lipolytic effects than when compared to a caffeine supplement alone. Consideration of insulin sensitivity, possible type 2 diabetes risk and current caffeine consumption needs to be discussed and factored before including this into a supplementation intervention.”
“The most effective dosage is around 6mg/kg body weight which on average corresponds to 2-4 cups per day depending on overall weight, as detailed in Belza et al. (2007), Dam and Hu (2005), Gavrieli et al. (2013b) and Graham et al. (2008).”
Caffeine and metabolism
“Future caffeine studies, especially around lipid management, may be defining the exact mechanism of metabolism for the increased serum FFA seen as a result of caffeine stimulated lipolysis, the role on transport regulation via CD36 or FA transporters. More specific cases could be identifying unique factors that can account for caffeine susceptibility between subjects (polymorphisms, gender, OW/OB, habitual intake) and the role of CAF as an amplifier for nutritional lipid management supplementations. Overall caffeine appears to have a support role to play in OB and OW subjects in assisting in lipid management, weight loss and weight management.”
Caffeine exercise and obesity
So based on this thorough report one could use caffeine such as green tea to in fact boost the thermogenic effect and fat burning, especially when used with regular exercise and a low carbohydrate diet.
In summary, having 1-2 cups of black coffee or green tea prior to exercise could indeed accelerate your fat burning.
Vanessa also lives in the UAE so for anyone of one pilates or nutrition appointments please contact us and we can connect you with this super talented lady in Dubai!
