If you’ve ever taken a look at our ingredients you may have noticed a recurring theme: green tea. Known as a miracle beverage with centuries of history and tradition behind it, green tea comes with no shortage of benefits.
The fact that it is one of the healthiest source of caffeine available is just one of the many reasons we use it as a foundation at MISSION. Its high content of the polyphenol, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), is another. These powerful micronutrients are found in the unfermented leaves of the tea plant, and have been extensively researched throughout the past decade. But recently, science has been able to shed some light on how they affect athletic performance, in particular. The results may have you reconsidering what’s in (or not in) your daily cuppa.
Benefits of Green Tea
1) Increased metabolic rate
The consumption of green tea has been shown to increase fat oxidation at rest, and further augment it during exercise. This means that during activity, fat is used preferentially as an energy source, leading to further fat burn later on. In a 4 week study investigating exercise and green tea ingestion, body fat amongst participants decreased on average by 1.63kg. We’ll take two cups, please.
2) Enhanced Athletic Performance
Increasing fat oxidation also means that glycogen stores can be spared. This is great news for any endurance athlete, as the sparing of glycogen can lead to increased time to exhaustion, reduced perceived exertion, and a reduced onset of fatigue in endurance events. Roberts et al. (2015) found that daily intake of green tea for 4 weeks lead to significant improvements in both fat oxidation and time to exhaustion in exercise performance. Fat oxidation rates increased by 24.9%, whereas total distance to exhaustion increased by 10.9%.
3) Improved Focus
Green tea’s combination of caffeine and L-theanine works magic on human brain function, leading to optimal alertness and performance. While the caffeine stimulates, the great amino acid, L-theanine, works to slow down the absorption of it — lengthening the period of improved focus, awareness and energy. In addition, L-theanine is known for amplifying alpha-waves (heightening creativity), promoting mood regulators and reducing stress hormones like cortisol. Increased cognitive function seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it?
