You may have heard that drinking green tea can help you lose weight. Some studies have shown that it can play a part in reducing the amount of fat in your body. It has also been shown to increase your body’s metabolism, therefore helping your body burn calories and better reduce dangerous fat.

Apart from all of the other wonderful health benefits consumption of green tea can offer (see below), a new study has shown it can help your body fight off fat. The researchers say that the results indicate that the substance found in the green tea known as Catechins may trigger weight loss by stimulating the body to burn calories and decrease body fat, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Different Teas, Same Plant

Although green, black and oolong teas are all made from the same plant, the Camellia Sinensis, green tea leaves aren’t fermented before they are steamed and dried. Green tea is particularly rich in a form of polyphenols known as catechins. A study on catechins involving 35 Japanese men showed that the men who drank the green tea extract put into oolong tea lost more weight than the others who had regular tea. Before the study, they had comparable weights, waist sizes, and ate identical meals. Following the study, even only three months into it, the even saw a superior reduction in their waist sizes, total body fat, and a decrease in their bad (LDL) cholesterol.

General recommendations say that you should drink about four cups a day for the best health benefits, and to help you lose weight.

Green tea may even produce thermogenisis, increase energy expenditure, and fat oxidation, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

A study done in Switzerland concluded that drinking 2-3 cups of green tea a day made the members to burn an extra eighty calories daily, without an increase in their heart rate.