Q: Whats your opinion on Green Tea to help weight loss? I mean, I read a lot about Green Tea, and it seems like it does a lot for your body. I was wondering if you would know if it actually DOES help weight loss along with exercise and diet. I also have only Decaf Green Tea, and was wondering if that affects the nutrition value of Green Tea

A: The weight-loss benefit of green tea is mainly due to the fact that it has no calories yet fills you up somewhat, at least temporarily -- the same benefit that plain water gives you. So it's not that green tea helps you burn more fat, but simply that you tend to eat less while drinking it. If you ate the exact same amount, then green tea would have no effect or only miniscule effect on weight loss.

That is not to say that green tea is useless -- it does have other health benefits, but the weight-loss aspect of it is definitely overrated. Its primary fat-burning ingredient is caffeine and it naturally has significantly less of it than black tea does or than coffee does. Since you're drinking decaf green tea, then its caffeine content is next to nothing so it has no fat-burning effect at all. But as I said before, it will still have the psychological fullness effect on you which may help curb food cravings plus it does provide other health benefits. So if you enjoy it, by all means keep drinking it.