NOVEMBER 8, 2011 EGCG

"Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves---TO BREAK OUR OWN RECORDS, to outstrip our yesterday by our today."

Stewart B Johnson

I do not want to get ahead of anyone else. I always challenge myself to get ahead of myself in regard to achieving more. I know I am an overachiever. It was evident when I had a low self esteem. Today I have a good self-esteem but I am still an overachiever. I want to learn everything I can from today until the day I leave this Earth. Life is too short. I always want to do what Johnson states above... To outstrip our yesterday by our today.

Do you think America is obsessed with fat? Yes. Do you think America is obsessed with diets? Yes. Do you think America would turn to an herb to lose weight? NO

Americans want the quick fix. We all do. I certainly do when it comes to certain things. The active constituent in green tea (Camella sinensis) is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), one of the most studied herbs in herbal medicine. There are countless papers on its benefits. Green tea is an excellent antioxidant. It supports lipid levels and optimizes metabolism. Another study recently published in the International Journal of Obesity revealed that when mice were fed with short term EGCG supplementation (fed a high fat diet with varying amounts of EGCG ) there was an increased energy excretion without affecting food intake. How unique is this! The study also showed that EGCG supported triglyceride balance (which is the amount of carbohydrates consumed) in the liver after eating.

The next item we will see on the grocer's shelves are Fat Loss Pills with EGCG.

All in all the study concluded that EGCG decreases food digestibility (all dealing with intestinal absobrtion). This leads to fat oxidation and reduced incorporation of dietary lipids into tissues.

For the consumer: Drink green tea. You must drink a lot of it. After reviewing over 60 studies it looks like you must have 24 -36 cups of tea per day. I prefer to take Gforce as it contains the high amounts of EGCG (from green tea) as well as ginger for anti-inflammatory properties and grape seed extract for anti microbial activity.

How do I know this? I was the medical consultant for Longevity Nutritionals when asked to make a green tea product.

As a Registered Herbalist (RH) I wanted to make a tincture for weight loss. Again I was consulted by Longevity Nutritionals (http://www.longevitynutritionals.com/) and made HerbalSLIMtea. This time I did not use Green tea but rosemary, fenugreek, bladderwrack and more to help with weight loss.

Until tomorrow....