Want to know a secret?
Drinking green tea on the keto diet might be the key to maximizing weight loss. Could this be the best diet combination ever to exist?
Unlike other misrepresented “healthy” drinks such as energy drinks and fruit juices, green tea sticks to the promises found on the super-food label.
A warm cup of tea might be the way to help shed a few extra pounds whilst we power through the keto diet.
Is green tea keto-okay? We’d take a long shot and say green tea is the BEST drink on the keto diet.
We know it sounds too good to be true, and for that reason, we cannot wait to share with you the secrets held in one warm cup of this magical green fluid!
What Is Green Tea?
For centuries, green tea has been hailed as a medicinal remedy and promotes the health and well-being of all those who consume it.
Green tea plants are found globally from regions of South East Asia to Hawaii. It is, however, considered to originate from China.
According to the International Institute of Sustainable Development, green tea is the second most-consumed drink after water. (*) To give you a perspective of how good it is.
Who would have thought?
Green tea and black tea originate from the same plant species – Camellia Sinensis. Green tea gets in the name because of the resulting color after the tea has been brewed.
How Green Tea Is Made
Green tea is processed differently from most other teas, hence its medicinal value.
The leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant are steeped, then quickly heated and dried. This helps prevent the tea leaves from being oxidized, which retains most vitamins and minerals and gives it a green look.
So let’s compare this with black tea:
Black tea, for example, comes from the same plant but is left to be completely oxidized and turn black. This rids the black tea of most of its natural goodness.
The beauty of green tea is that it can be enjoyed in many delicious ways, such as iced tea, fruit tea, and even sweetened or unsweetened tea.
Nutritional Benefit Of Green Tea
Let’s have a look at WHY green tea is keto-friendly, shall we?
One cup of unsweetened green tea contains the following macro’s (*).
- 2.5 calories
- 0 grams of carbs per cup
- 0 grams of fat
- 0.5 grams of protein
We’re going to list you all the major components of green tea and explain how each one works wonderfully to help our bodies(*)!
- Catechins
- Caffeine
- Theanine
- Vitamins And Minerals
- Saponins
- Fluorine
- Gama-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
- Chlorophyll
Evidently, Green tea, when unsweetened, contains a large number of components that we can’t pronounce but are beneficial to human health. These components all come with a unique effect which we will discuss.
Better yet, with absolutely no carbs per cup, this drink is wonderfully keto-friendly!
Vitamins
You should have probably figured by now that green tea is a healthy plant. It has multiple purposes and is sure to give you a health boost.
One of these health boosts comes from the vitamins in green tea. Green tea is packed full of A, C, and E vitamins and different forms of Vitamin B.
What does this mean for you?
This shows that green tea is a very well-rounded sugar-free beverage.
Lets briefly break down the vitamins and their function for you:
- Vitamin C – Found in all green teas but most abundant in the Sencha variety, vitamin C will help maintain healthy skin and form collagen to help prevent aging(*)!
- Vitamin B2 – With 0.1mg of vitamin B in one cup of green tea, and 1.4mg in 100g serving of Sencha tea, you can acquire your daily intake in just one drink. Vitamin B2 helps with our metabolism and bodily function (*).
- Vitamin E – Green tea variety Sencha contains 32 times more vitamin E than spinach, a typically high vitamin E-containing food. Vitamin E in green tea has been proven to enhance exercise-induced benefits such as helping us lose weight and muscle repair (*).
- Vitamin A – One serving of green tea contains over 5x the amount of vitamin A in carrots and therefore helps improve our nighttime vision.
Minerals
Not only are we blessed with the plethora of vitamins in green tea, but there are plenty of other crucial minerals which provide amazing health benefits.
As well as having 5-7% mineral density including potassium, calcium, and magnesium, green tea contains multiple natural extracts that help heal our body(*).
Natural Extracts
Catechins
There are four main catechins in green tea. Studies have proved that these catechins have antimicrobial properties and help prevent certain diseases such as tooth decay(*).
Saponins have also been shown in studies to help find bacterial infections. Working alongside fluorine, these natural extracts all help fight tooth decay(*).
Pretty cool, right? You’ll never guess what else they do!
These catechins have also established a role in cancer prevention due to their antioxidant effects(*).
The best part?
Having one cup of green tea per day has been proven to help prevent cancer and aid in chemotherapy treatments.
Theanine
The health benefits of theanine on the mental state of the body are huge. Studies have shown that this component is associated with a boost in mood, reduction in stress and anxiety, and improving cognition(*).
The crazy thing is that this amino acid is what gives green tea its distinct flavor.
GABA
Don’t worry. We don’t expect you to pronounce the whole word!
GABA present in green tea has been scientifically proven to help boost mood and prevent depression(*).
Caffeine In Green Tea
We ALL love caffeine. For some of us, we need it to start our day or to get through our day.
Caffeine has been linked to several health benefits. These include improved mood, heightened brain function, increased energy for exercise, and increased metabolism, which helps fat burning.
However, just like any other drug supplement, caffeine can be abused. Too much caffeine can lead to headaches, tremors, sleep prevention, and even anxiety.
So how much caffeine is in green tea?
There is 30-50mg of caffeine per cup (230ml) or 8 oz of green tea. (*) Let’s compare this caffeine content to other warm beverages:
- Instant Coffee – 27-173 mg of caffeine
- Black Tea – 25 – 110mg of caffeine
- Energy Drinks (generic) – 72 – 80mg of caffeine
As you can tell, the caffeine content in one 8 oz serving of green tea is not as high as other drinks.
We don’t know if you’re ready to hear this…
Green Tea is the best caffeine drink out there. Want to know why?
As discussed above, theanine helps calm you down. This works synergistically with the caffeine in green tea.
What does this mean for you?
Basically, you can drink as much green tea as you like without getting the negative side effects of caffeine! It is because of this that many people opt to drink green tea instead of coffee.
Green Tea And The Keto Diet: A Wonderful Pairing
So Is green tea good for a ketogenic diet?
Unsurprisingly, green tea and the keto diet work hand-in-hand in multiple ways. Better yet, it won’t knock you out of ketosis with the little number of carbs per serving it has!
Evidently, people love drinking sugary, milky coffee, which we know is not 100% keto-friendly. When doing the keto diet, green tea makes a wonderful replacement. It is sugar-free with a natural sweetness and gives you that caffeine kick!
Sometimes, water isn’t enough. It is not fun.
Some people may break out of ketosis because they crave a flavorsome‹, keto-friendly drink when on the keto diet, not water. So, green tea is our alternative.
Now, you’re going to want to read this carefully!
Green tea helps with weight loss. That’s right.
Lose weight more efficiently with green tea.
So why not pair it with the keto diet? After all, it is carb-free.
Since most people who are doing the keto diet are in it to reduce their blood sugar and reduce weight, why not introduce a drink that will speed up the process?
Green tea is packed with fat-burning components such as caffeine and other natural extracts, which have been proven to speed up our metabolism, reduce our blood sugar and help us lose weight. You can also get the same effects by taking green tea extract supplements if you don’t want to drink them!
The foods we consume on the keto diet can be linked to an increase in our body’s LDL cholesterol. The elements of green tea, such as the catechins, can reduce our cholesterol, reduce our blood pressure and help prevent type 2 diabetes.
How Can I Add Green Tea To My Diet?
- Firstly, you can always drink green tea, as it tastes delicious! Add sweeteners if it is too bitter!
- You can add ice to your green tea, making iced tea! Ice tea with sparkling water is also great to drink and provides you with a lot of energy!
- Making healthy smoothies using green tea powder, keto-friendly protein, spinach, sweeteners, and almond milk!
- Mix strong green tea with sparkling water for a lovely sensation.
Conclusion
Green tea and the keto diet go hand-in-hand. They provide you with very similar benefits, and both ultimately keep you in a healthier state of ketosis.
Better yet? There is not a single carb in this delicious drink!
The cognitive and mental abilities provided by green tea work enhance the mental clarity we get with the ketogenic diet.
In truth, by drinking, you are allowing your health a boost and a chance to be the best version of itself. As far as health goes, green tea allows the reduction of bad cholesterol; therefore, it works well with the cholesterol ingested from keto.
Green tea keto-products are widely available, too, such as powders and different varieties of tea. Green tea is keto-friendly, and we cannot recommend it enough in the diet.
