Tea and Chocolate for Athletes

GREEN TEA

Many of us like a cuppa through the day. Apart from knowing that you should try to limit your sugar consumption, and, arguably, use skimmed-milk in your tea, many of us give no more thought as to whether the tea we drink has any consequences for our health. Read on my friends and be enlightened ……

Green Tea comes in many guises, mainly from the East. Chinese and Japanese green teas have similar benefits. Green tea is just black tea without the fermentation process. Black tea (what most Brit’s normally consume) contains many benefits too just not as many as green tea, plus milk blocks the flavanoids (active health promoting components in green tea). You’ll see later the same milk in milk chocolate blocks similar active polyphenols from working properly in the body.

Green tea contains antioxidants, polyphenols (active plant components) catechins and EGCG these are the bits which give Green teas it’s unique properties. Many of the health benefits and claims of green tea are the subject of ‘hype’ but it does seem to have a proven track record for helping almost all causes of mortality in some bigger well constructed studies, so maybe we should believe the ‘hype’

GREEN TEA FOR THE ATHLETE

Next to fish oils green tea is a wonder food, drink it regularly, drink it lots – get a version you enjoy the taste of. The best product is Matcha ceremonial green tea used in the orient for 1000’s of years to improve mediation and meetings between people, but any type of green tea will contain some of the beneficial effects.

One of the reasons for it’s traditional use in ceremonies is its effect on brain neurotransmitters, specifically it has a calming and focusing action due to raising dopamine and GABA at the same time. Dopamine is responsible for motivation and drive, whilst GABA regulates brain rhythm. The effect is you feel calmer and more focused at the same time. Only a few natural substances can do this and generally these assist with reaction time when nerves are an issue. Green tea also affects alpha waves; these are highest when the brain is relaxed and alert.

-    Green Tea; calms the brain

-    Increases both GABA and Dopamine

-    Excellent for decision making when under fire

-    Increases alpha waves

-    Protects against most diseases

-    Burns fat

Alpha brain waves are seen in wakefulness where there is a relaxed and effortless alertness, for more info check out http://www.biocybernaut.com/about/brainwaves/alpha.htm

So if you like being stressed, fat and prone to disease don’t drink green tea!

SCIENCE IN RELATION TO FAT LOSS

Increased adipose (fat) mass is a consequence of either increased adipocyte (fat cell) size (hypertrophy) or increased adipocyte number (hyperplasia) or both.  Adipose tissue hyperplasia (increasing in number) is a result of increased adipogenesis, which includes preadipocyte proliferation and adipocyte differentiation. Thus, therapeutic agents that have the ability to reduce or inhibit adipogenesis or increase cell death by apoptosis could have a profound impact on body composition.

Green tea extracts, specifically those containing a high proportion of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), have been shown to increase 24 hour energy expenditure and fat oxidation (Dulloo et al., 1999) and increase weight loss in humans (Chantre and Lairon, 2002).  In addition, EGCG treatment has been shown to decrease fat deposition in rats (Kao, Hiipakka and Liao, 2000).  Although increased thermogenesis and inhibition of lipase activity have been suggested to be responsible for EGCG induced weight loss, EGCG has been shown to have antiproliferative effects (inhibits maturation and increases apoptosis, i.e. cell death) that may also impact adipose tissue.

In addition to its antiproliferative effect, EGCG may also have an inhibitory effect on differentiation.  More specifically, it may act to inhibit the extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) pathway in adipocytes, resulting in inhibition of lipogenesis.  Empirical evidence suggests that 500mg of EGCG taken in the form of a decaffeinated green tea extract supplement twice daily (500mg at breakfast and lunch) is optimal for the fat utilization and storage effects highlighted above.

However some scientist believe the fat burning effects are better in caffeinated forms of green tea, the problem with these is you cant take them late at night.

Furthermore, EGCG can be considered to be a general wellbeing nutrient.  It has been reported to have antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties (Kondo et al., 1999; Cai et al., 2002) and anticarcinogenic or cancer preventing actions (Chung et al., 2003; Hu, Han and Chen, 1995).

Basically it kills fat cells, up regulates fat burning and prevents cancer – so drink it!

TEA IS ALWAYS GOOD WITH A CHOCOLATE BISCUIT

Chocolate Has Health Benefits (just chocolate biscuits are high in bad fats and sugars)

Chocolate is the name given to product derived from cocoa trees, cocoa nibs are the raw form of chocolate before it gets processed and sugar added. These nibs contain unique plant polyphenols, and yes you guessed it these are good for you!

Recent studies have shown that eating chocolate can be beneficial to your health. Chocolate contains a substance called catechins, the same stuff that occurs in Green tea, that could help prevent cancer and heart disease, as well as lower blood pressure. But if you eat milk chocolate you can block some of the active components and negate the benefits.

Catechins are strong antioxidants which clear away destructive molecules in the body called free radicals. Free radicals damage cells which help trigger heart disease and cancer. A large amount of antioxidants in your diet can help reduce your risk for developing heart disease and cancer.

Cocoa powder and chocolate are good sources of antioxidants. See the list of Top Antioxidant Foods below. Dark chocolate contains significantly higher amounts than most other foods. You can also find catechins in large doses in green tea.

In addition, researchers have discovered that physical and emotional enjoyment from eating chocolate, even in small doses, can enhance immune function for hours afterwards. They believe that life’s small pleasures may have a cumulative effect in boosting the immune system over a long period.

This seems to prove that a little bit of what you fancy really does do you good, just don’t have too much of it that’s all!

The good news is that moderate chocolate consumption offers health benefits. The bad news is that you can’t eat whatever you want because too much chocolate can lead to weight gain.

So once you start eating the chocolate make sure you eat a little less of something else. When you restrict foods choose sugars and poor fat calories first.

SOURCE: Data from U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

*ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is a measure of the ability of foods to subdue harmful oxygen free radicals that can damage our bodies.

CLA & ANOTHER REASON TO EAT GRASS FED BEEF AND FULL FAT ORGANIC DAIRY PRODUCTS;

While we’re on the fat-burning theme, I thought I’d mention another supplement that has gathered efficacy as a fat-loss agent. The term CLA refers to a class of positional and geometric conjugated dieonic isomers of linoleic acid.  It has been shown to have many biological effects, including anti-carcinogenesis, anti-atherogenesis, immune modulation, and altering body composition (Pariza, 2004).

CLA is a naturally occurring compound which can help keep you healthy and lean. As with all the other natural sports nutrition no brainers it’s simple to increase in the diet and you can supplement with relatively small amounts to obtain its benefits.

Hey guess what CLA also occurs naturally in cows, yes the meat and milk and milk based products which come from a cow are very high in natural CLA. There’s one problem though the cow’s got to eat grass! Before you think I thought they did, how wrong could you be, most cows eat a version of cornflakes (less refined than the ones we have in the supermarket though)! This is because omega 6 fatty acids make you fat real quick, remember the inflammation story? It’s omega 6 dependent. Do yourself a favour, don’t eat cow’s which don’t eat grass and don’t drink the milk, eat the cheese or put the butter on your bread (you’re using coconut oil now though right?). But if grass fed beef is beyond the pail then you might want to supplement with CLA.

The effect of CLA on human body composition is controversial, but when the body of evidence is considered as a whole, CLA does appear to reduce body fat (Whigham, Watras and Schoeller, 2007); although the effect is modest.  The mechanisms by which CLA may reduce body fat include reduction of lipid accumulation by adipocytes mediated through effects on lipoprotein lipase and stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase (Pariza, Park and Cook, 2001).

As highlighted above CLA has different isomers.  The t10, c12 isomer has been identified as the one responsible for decreasing body fat (Park et al., 1999; Gavino et al., 2000).  Notwithstanding this, one human study that exclusively used the t10, c12 isomer resulted in transient insulin resistance within 12 weeks (Riserus et al., 2002).  There is inadequate data to indicate an ideal mix of isomers for body composition, but it is generally agreed that a mixture of t10, c12 and c9, t11 results in no severe adverse events (Whigham et al., 2007).

The optimal dose for CLA is uncertain. Doses ranging between 0.5-5g/d have been reported to decrease body fat.  However, higher doses may produce additional fat loss (Whigham et al., 2007).

As part of your fat burning regime including grass fed beef products seems to be a useful idea. In addition supplementing with CLA will help decrease pain and inflammation associated with intensive exercise and may have additional beneficial effects on fat storage and muscle building.

For a general discussion of performance fats go to; http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=461360

References – from Wikipedia
1.    ^ Green Tea’s Cancer-fighting Allure Becomes More Potent.
2.    ^ Green Tea, White Tea: Health Roiboos
3.    ^ The combination of green tea and tamoxifen is effe…[Carcinogenesis. 2006] – PubMed Result
4.    ^ A New Function of Green Tea: Prevention of Lifestyle-related Diseases – Sueoka et al. 928 (1): 274 – Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
5.    ^ Green Tea Health Benefits
6.    ^ How effective is green tea for weight loss? | Calorie Counter
7.    ^ ACS :: Green Tea
8.    ^ Tea: A Story of Serendipity
9.    ^ Qualified health claim definition – Medical Dictionary definitions of popular medical terms easily defined on MedTerms
10.    ^ US FDA/CFSAN – Letter Responding to Health Claim Petition dated January 27, 2004: Green Tea and Reduced Risk of Cancer Health Claim (Docket number 2004Q-0083)
11.    ^ US FDA/CFSAN – Qualified Health Claims: Letter of Denial – Green Tea and Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (Docket No. 2005Q-0297)
12.    ^ CDER New Molecular Entity (NME) Drug and New Biologic Approvals in Calendar Year 2006
13.    ^ Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drug Product List: 10/2006
14.    ^ http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/label/2006/021902lbl.pdf
15.    ^ JAMA – Abstract: Green Tea Consumption and Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and All Causes in Japan: The Ohsaki Study, September 13, 2006, Kuriyama et al. 296 (10): 1255
16.    ^ http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_4326770 Article in the Denver Post
17.    ^ Green tea consumption and cognitive function: a cross-sectional study from the Tsurugaya Project 1 – Kuriyama et al. 83 (2): 355 – American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
18.    ^ Green tea could protect against Alzheimer’s
19.    ^ Green Tea and the “Asian Paradox”
20.    ^ L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological…[Biol Psychol. 2007] – PubMed Result
21.    ^ Ingestion of a tea rich in catechins leads to a reduction in body fat and malondialdehyde-modified LDL in men – Nagao et al. 81 (1): 122 – American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
22.    ^ Studies: Green Tea May Help Prolong Life, Senay: Research Also Shows Benefits For Skin, Few Drawbacks – CBS News
23.    ^ Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans – Dulloo et al. 70 (6): 1040 – American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
24.    ^ Green Tea Blocks HIV in Test Tubes
25.    ^ SpringerLink – Journal Article
26.    ^ [1] Lambert, J.D., et al., (2007) Possible Controversy over Dietary Polyphenols: Benefits vs Risks, Chem Res Toxicol