There’s been a lot of talk on Oprah and other television shows about the power of green tea as a weight loss supplement. This article is going to take a look at the pros and cons of using green tea, not only for weight loss but for its health benefits as well. We’ll review Power Tea as product that enhances the benefits of green tea.

What is Power Tea made with?

Obviously the main ingredient in Power Tea is green tea. This particular product uses organic great tea, to avoid the harmful effects of chemicals and fertilizers. It is supplemented with Guarana, citris aurantium, and Vitamin B12, all of which have their own weight loss and energy benefits that we’ll discuss in detail.

A Brief History of Green Tea

Green tea has a long history of use in Chinese medicine. Its benefits include the ability to treat headaches, body ache, and poor digestion. It has been said that it improves well-being and can increase life expectancy. The real benefit of green tea is its high level of polyphenols, which fight free radicals in the body. Green tea is common in many other fat burner products because it helps with improving metabolism and thermogensis without increasing heart rate.

What does the Guarana do?

Guarana is an added ingredient in PowerTea that has some pretty incredible powers. It comes from a fruit found in the rainforest. Its seed has up to 4 times the amount of caffeine than a comparable coffee bean. Guarana is a stimulant that can increase mental alertness, stamina, and endurance.

What does the citris aurantium do?

Citris aurantium is another ingredient with roots in Chinese medicine. It is often called bitter orange because it is made from the immature and unripe fruit of the citrus family. Studies show that it can increase your metabolic rate at rest, and encourages the use of stored fat in the body for energy production. In addition, it burns these extra calories at a faster rate without actually causing any increased jitters.

What are free radicals and how do they affect the body?

Those polyphenols in Power Tea? They’re antioxidants that fight free radicals. But what are free radicals in the body and why should you care?

Without going into a long chemistry lesson, we’ll try to give you the gist of free radicals in the body. Free radicals do not usually form naturally in the body, and when they do your body can take care of them. Free radicals create unstable molecules in the body thus damaging healthy cells. They work against the immune system and are responsible for aging.

Over time pollution, radiation, smoking, herbicides and pesticides cause free radical build up in the body. The free radicals speed up the aging process and create a better environment for cancer cells to form. Free radicals do not really affect weight loss, but they do harm your overall health. If you’re not healthy, then weight loss is kind of a moot point.

The antioxidants in Power Tea stabilize these free radicals naturally. Studies show that antioxidants can prevent many diseases like cancer, stroke, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease.

Should I try Power Tea for weight loss?

As you can tell from this article, the benefits of green tea are numerous. But green tea alone will not help you lose weight. That’s where Power Tea comes in by adding supplements like guarana, citrus aurantium, and vitamin B12. When combined together, Power Tea can be a great supplement to any weight loss plan. Not only for losing weight, but improving overall health.

Keep in mind, of course, that you won’t lose weight if you do not improve your diet and commit to some exercise. Any weight loss product on the market won’t help you if you don’t take these things into consideration. Always consult your physician before starting a weight loss regime.

Want to learn more about free radicals?

Green Tea Benefits

Since this site is geared towards fitness, we’ll get into which energy drinks are best for athletes and people who stay active. Everyone gets tired. Whether you’ve had a long night at the office or are becoming fatigued from training, sometimes we all need a boost to get us through our workouts. But not all energy drinks are the same. Some energy drinks give you a boost from a whole lot of sugar, while others are made specifically optimized for athletes

Red Bull, Rockstar, and Others – Not recommended

If your goal is to lose weight or train harder, and you’re drinking Rockstar, Red Bull, or Go Fast, then you’re out of your mind. These energy drinks that you find in your local convenience stores and bars are so full of sugar and empty calories you might as well be drinking a soda with a caffeine pill thrown in.

Do you know how much sugar these drinks actually have in them? Rockstar Energy Drink: 200 Calories, 48 grams of carbohydrates, and 46 grams or sugar. Red Bull: 160 Calories, 40 grams of carbohydrates, and 39 grams of sugar. Go Fast: 90 Calories, 23 grams of carbohydrates, and 21 grams or sugar.

Even if you’re not into fitness, you shouldn’t make a habit out of drinking these kinds of energy drinks. They have great marketing gimmicks to make you think that they’re not that bad for you, but they really are.

FRS Healthy Energy – Highly Recommended

This is a product I’ve recently come across and I have to say it’s great. FRS Healthy Energy was designed specifically for athletes. While I am not the greatest of athletes, when I need a boost, it is not going to come from a can of sugar. FRS Healthy Energy not only gives you a boost, but helps speed up your metabolism too. It was originally designed as a fatigue fighting health drink for cancer patients, but endurance athletes got a hold of it and now it is being marketed that way.

FRS Healthy Energy’s key ingredient is Quercetin, which is a natural antioxidant found in apples, blueberries, and fruits. The rest is a patented mix of vitamins, metabolic enhancers, and antioxidants designed in a way for your body to fully absorb all of the main ingredients. It also increases focus, so you can probably use it to study for a final or finish up a giant pile of work.

Coffee – Use at your own risk

Coffee has been the “energy drink” of the ages. It’s debatable whether or not coffee is good for you or bad for you, but when used in moderation it’s the cheapest “energy drink” out there. While you don’t want to be drinking from a coffee thermos during a workout, it can really give you enough energy to jump start your day.

Drink it black. Straight up and black. When I say coffee, I don’t mean a 400 calorie double caramel latte from Starbucks. If you want caffeine in its purest form, you have to drink it black. That means no sugar, no creamers, and no whatever else they are putting in coffee nowadays. This is especially true for those aiming to lose weight. Adding those extra sugars will null any benefits that coffee may give you. Stick to one or two cups. It can be very habit forming, so do not start your day with a half a pot of coffee. Drinking excessive amounts of coffee can cause all sorts of problems, not limited to bowel problems and blood pressure problems.

This article “supplements” (sorry) Lush’s article on performance enhancing dietary supplements in part 1 of Supplement Rack. As Lush notes, some of the great supplements for fitness training to use on an every day basis include protein powders, glutamine, BCAAs (or amino acids), creatine monohydrate, flaxseed, and a multi-vitamin. While the products Lush mentions are of significant importance, and probably top the list, there are a couple others that I would like to talk about briefly, which are either highly recommended or highly beneficial at the least.

But first a word of warning: if you do not have your diet in check, do not waste your time with any supplements other than vitamins, protein powders, and essential fatty acids (EFAs – see below).

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) Part 2: Fish Oil

Most of you probably have heard about the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids by now. It seems these days everything is fortified with Omega-3s, from eggs to milk to beef, and rightly so! EFAs combat bad cholesterol, raise good cholesterol, promote the production of natural testosterone, assist in recovery, improve the cardiovascular system, and help keep our hair smooth and shiny… those of us that have hair. We want to strive for a balance of 33% saturated fat, 33% unsaturated fat, and 33% EFAs in our diet, although it doesn’t hurt to keep saturated fats even lower.

If you’re eating meat you’re getting enough saturated fat; if you’re eating seeds and nuts, you’re getting enough unsaturated fat; so all that leaves is the EFAs. Neither fish oil nor flaxseed have 100% of the total EFAs and Omega-3s that we need, but when combined they have everything that our bodies require to maintain a healthy lipid profile. The recommended base level serving is an additional 3-5 grams of Fish Oil and 3-5 grams of Flaxseed oil a day.

Melatonin with Vitamin B6

No, this is NOT the chemical that makes your skin turn orange, melanin is what you’re thinking of. Instead, if you ever have trouble sleeping at night, this cheap, non-addictive, over-the-counter supplement can help fix your insomnia. Natural melatonin supports healthy sleep patterns. The body naturally releases melatonin in response to changes in light, with levels rising at night. Usually a 2-4 week course of melatonin supplementation will even out your natural chemical release and set your sleeping pattern back on it’s… pillow. Vitamin B6 in essential for melatonin production, and thus should be included with your melatonin product. 3mg a day is the maximum dosage you should ever need. You should never have to pay more than $10 for a 6 month supply of Melatonin.

ZMA

Containing Zinc, Magnesium, and Vitamin B6, ZMA promotes natural testosterone production. These are the nutrients that tend to be used up the fastest in trained athletes. In fact, I have read numerous studies wherein athletes supplementing with ZMA have recovered free testosterone levels from low to average or above average just by adding 1.5 grams a night. The additional vitamin B6 also facilitates proper sleep patterns by stimulating the release of Melatonin. Since the demands of rigorous physical activity wear away the concentrations of essential nutrients in our bodies, I don’t see why supplementing with ZMA could be anything but beneficial. Especially considering that the highest quality ZMA products cost as little as $9 for a two month supply.

HOT-ROX EXTREME by Biotest International

Firstly, I do not have an affiliation with Biotest. In fact I would say there is more bad blood between us than anything. I have verbally complained about their pricing the uselessness of their supplements in the past. However I believe they have recently cleaned up their act, started pricing their products sensibly, and are actually selling some quality supplements these days. I highly recommend HOT-ROX EXTREME for those that are trying to melt the fat off their bodies. When combined with a high protein, low carb diet; a proper strength training program; and intelligent use of cardio, specifically high intensity interval training (HIIT) (the worthy subject of another article).

HOT-ROX EXTREME will keep you energized throughout the day and will truly help assist fat loss in ways I can’t honestly explain without going back to reread their scientific analysis. I read all the material a year or so ago on the original Hot-Rox; had decent fat loss results (15 lbs of fat in 3 months) with that product, bought the “new and improved” version just recently, and am currently impressed with the way my body feels. It is not cheap, at $40 for a 1-2 month supply, but is a worth addition to a hardcore exercise and diet program, if you’re already using most of the other supplements mentioned here and in Supplement Rack Part I

Post-Workout Drinks

– I personally use Boost, although I used Biotest’s Surge about 5 years ago, and a product called Nitro-Max for the last 3 years. The gist is this: when we strength train our bodies exhaust the supply of glucose in blood and muscle tissues, and the muscle proteins break down as a result of intense training. If left in this state for more than an hour after training, the body goes into a state of catabolism and protein synthesis comes to a halt. This is the equivalent of some dweeb’s car running out of gas 10 feet short of the top of a hill. Since this sissy is too weak to push his car over the hill, he must put the parking break on, and either hike or hitch a ride to the nearest gas station where he will fill a canister, then he must get a ride back to the car, fill up the tank and continue on his way, surely late to whatever meeting he was scheduled to attend. Nothing good can come of this.

Consuming your favorite high dextrose, moderate carb, post-workout beverage within 20 minutes of your training is like hitting the nitro switch and catching some sick air over the top of the hill. An appropriate post-workout drink will have 50 grams of dextrose, 25 grams of hydrolyzed whey protein isolates, and 0 grams of fat.

My current supplement regime looks like this: Hot-Rox Extreme, Fish Oil, Flax Oil, Multi-Vitamin, Pure Protein bars, protein shakes with skim milk, ZMA, Melatonin, and 1 can of Boost post-workout. I am currently cutting fat and getting stronger.

In this day and age, there are more supplements on the market than there are people to ingest all these magically enhanced, super engineered, biologically improved, and chemically re-structured pills. Yea right! Let me tell you what a supplement is, and why we need them or don’t need them. We won’t get in to much science here; I’m just going to explain what athletes actually benefit from, and what is actually bullshit.

Marketing is a powerful weapon. Millions of people see a commercial for the new magic pill or the new weight loss drink and they’re on it faster than a fat kid on chocolate cake. Why? Because the sales pitch is phenomenal Who wouldn’t want to lose 20 pounds in 10 days with only 20 minutes a day? No one, that’s who! Unfortunately for all of you, you are not living on a little place I like to call Earth. There is one magical thing out there that can make you attain any goal you want. That magical thing is called hard work and dedication. With that out of the way, let’s get into the supplements.

Supplements are defined as an addition to a current dietary program that may aid in the increase of optimizing one’s body. Understand? Supplements are not there to replace anything that you would do on a normal basis, and they are certainly not there to make things easier on you; if anything, they should make things harder for you in the sense that with supplements, you should be working harder since you are recovering quicker. Now I’m not going to list the supplements that the biggest bodybuilders endorse and the ones every time you ask a GNC dude about, he tells you “this is guaranteed to rip your muscles up!” I’m gonna list the main supplements critical to optimizing performance in power, speed, and strength for any athlete. By the way, in this article, I’m not going to list any brands of supplements, just what you need. Here they are:

Protein powder drinks

Most athletes do not receive enough protein in their diet. Since our body’s tissue is made from proteins, adequate levels of protein are required for optimal repair and recovery. There are lots of different shakes out there; whichever you choose, make sure it’s low in sugar.

Glutamine

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the blood and also in the muscle tissue. The amino acid pool is 60% glutamine in skeletal muscle. Glutamine delivers muscle-enhancing nitrogen into the muscle cells. Glutamine aids in muscle growth, and helps to prevent muscle tissue breakdown.

Branched Chain Amino Acids(BCAAs)

BCAAs are essential amino acids in the blood and in the muscle tissue. They improve muscle growth and muscle recovery and healing. Taking BCAAs reduces muscle damage and greatly improves energy levels.

Creatine Monohydrate

I don’t need to explain the effects of Creatine. I’m confident 99% of our readers already know what it does, or have used it already. Most muscle-heads use Creatine to gain weight. They take 100 grams a day for 5 days and then 5-10 grams a day thereafter. All the weight they gain though is 60-70% water. What the hell is the point of that? Supplementing with Creatine for “real” athletes is much much different than the common guy knows. If working out properly, the loading phase of Creatine is unneccary. Depending on your goals, 1-5 grams of Creatine day should be plenty to increase the availability of Adenosine Tri-phosphate and reap the benefits. Be careful when using Creatine; you want to put on muscle slowly and gradually, so that you can keep 90% of your gains if you ever stop using it, which is why the loading phase is useless and senseless.

Flaxseed Oil

Flaxseed is on my top 3 favorite supplements list. It not only provides the essential fatty acids necessary for health, but it greatly helps in increasing stamina and endurance. Flaxseed oil decreases recovery times in between workouts, and has been proven to reduce soreness in recovery intervals. I personally take flaxseed oil in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. I LOVE IT!

Multi-Vitamin

I’m not talking about that Centrum crap either. 100% RDA of vitamins and minerals is OK for the average man, but as athletes, we put our bodies through absolute hell. A true athlete will require anywhere between 10 and 20 times the average recommended daily allowance of vitamins and minerals. Shop around for a quality multi-vitamin with all the vitamins and minerals you can get.

That about does it for my list of magical supplements. I know you were probably expecting more, but why? Don’t worry about the idiot personal trainer that prescribes 79 different supplements, cause they all do the same shit. Worry about what your body can actually utilize and improve you as a whole. This is the greatest supplement list you will find in my opinion. It gives you everything you need to be at your peak, in and out of the gym. If you don’t believe me, just give it a whirl. Don’t waste time and money on those bottles that guarantee you 20 pounds in 2 months. Save your time, your health, and your money. Use the supplements that benefit you more and more with each time you take them. No need to overdo it. The human body is capable of amazing and incredible feats.

Those “magic” pills all the companies are trying to sell are trying to fool you into believing the body can’t get past a certain point without these pills. You get what you put in. If you want to be the best, train the best, eat the best, and supplement the best.

Good Luck!