The scientific community is committed to searching for natural and relatively harmless obesity management options that would promote BMI normalization in teenagers without affecting their physical maturation processes, and green tea is often mentioned as a promising choice. In their recent article, Lutfian et al. (2021) utilize the systematic literature review method and critical appraisal processes to explore four interventions, including green tea consumption. The source’s purpose is to examine the physiological benefits of apple juice intake, green tea, yoga, and Prophet Dawood’s fasting method in terms of addressing obesity in adolescent patients (Lutfian et al., 2021). The interventions’ effects on adipogenesis are summarized from ten trustworthy sources with different levels of evidence.
Regarding highlights peculiar to the topic of interest, Camellia synesis and its extracts have been summarized as viable BMI reduction methods expected to work in adolescents. Notably, since experimental medical research in underage subjects is strictly regulated, the reviewers rely on studies with adult samples and extrapolate their results to younger populations. Based on the review, green tea’s chemical compounds, including antioxidant polyphenols or catechins, are conducive to reductions in adipose tissue in humans. Green tea extract supplements are cited as a working method of weight normalization. Green tea extraction beverages have been shown to decrease the percentage of body fat in obese and overweight women, which is linked to catechins’ hypocholesterolemic effects. Treatment with high doses of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is the key catechin in green tea, causes notable reductions in BMI and waist circumference within a three-month timeframe (Lutfian et al., 2021). This finding is aligned with earlier studies that connect the intake of green tea extract containing EGCG to changes in the levels of glucagon, epinephrine, and other hormones involved in the process of lipolysis.
Therefore, extracts work for hunger suppression and increasing lipolysis and thermogenesis, thus promoting weight normalization in obese patients. The authors suppose that Camellia synesis and green tea extracts would produce the same beneficial effects in obese teenagers. Nevertheless, they doubt that the method would work perfectly in isolation from other treatment modalities, so using the combination of the four interventions is their preliminary recommendation for adolescent populations.
Reference
Lutfian, L., Munandar, A., Yunanto, R. A., & Hakiki, A. R. N. (2021). Effectiveness of yoga, fast of Dawood, green tea and apple juice as suppressors of PPAR-γ, C/EBP-α, and SREBP-c for management of obesity on adolescents. Nursing and Health Sciences Journal (NHSJ), 1(3), 223-230.