Caffeine in Food: Metabolism and Tea

Eight O?Clock Metabolism Boost Performance Blend coffee beans are ?gently infused? with 40 to 70 milligrams of EGCG (a flavonoid compound found in tea) per brewed cup, ?to naturally enhance the body?s own metabolism.?

GNC?s ?be-ENERGIZED Calorie Burning Formula? (?Burning calories has never been so easy?) supplements its 200 mg of caffeine with 25 mg of EGCG, ?to boost your metabolism.?

Does EGCG make you burn more calories?

?If you test the tea polyphenols like EGCG alone, you don?t see that they have very much of an effect on metabolism,? says researcher Mario Ferruzzi of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

They don?t appear to do much for weight either.

A recent meta-analysis found that overweight men and women who consumed 282 mg of EGCG every day weighed no less after 12 weeks than similar people who took a placebo.

?If you combine tea polyphenols with caffeine, you do see a bump in short-term energy expenditure compared to people taking just caffeine or a placebo,? notes Ferruzzi. ?Whether that helps you maintain a healthy weight is a whole other issue.?

(Ferruzzi is a co-patent holder for a weight-maintenance drink that contains tea and caffeine and that was the basis for Coca-Cola?s Enviga drink.)

In the meta-analysis, the mix of EGCG and caffeine wasn?t very impressive. After three months of taking polyphenols plus caffeine every day, overweight men and women ? some were dieting and some weren?t ? lost an average of just one more pound than similar people who took a placebo.

?Small and not likely clinically relevant,? was the way the researchers summed up their results.

NutritionAction.com?s Bonnie Liebman spoke with Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School. He has published over 1,400 scientific articles on diet and disease.

Q: Can food keep us healthy?
A: The foods we choose have a huge impact on our long-term health and well-being. We?ve learned that in the last few decades.

We?ve seen that, say, rates of heart disease in northern Europe are ten times higher than in southern Europe and that rates of cancer vary tenfold or more around the world. The foods we choose ? along with physical activity and not smoking ? are a major factor in those huge differences in rates of almost every disease that we look at, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and many cancers.

Q: What are the right foods?
A: Within that healthy market basket will be mostly plant foods. That means plenty of vegetables, but not potatoes, and plenty of fruit, but not fruit juices. It?s aiming more for the more-intact, less-processed fruits and vegetables and for whole grains as opposed to refined grains. Those factors have an enormous influence.

And I should add healthy protein sources, which means a combination of plant-based foods like legumes and nuts and a modest amount of poultry, fish, and dairy. It?s not necessary to be a vegan, but to move in the direction of plant-based choices.

Most varieties of Kellogg?s Special K cereal are nothing special. Just some rice, whole wheat, sugar, and a major ad campaign that promises that you?ll ?lose up to 6 lbs. in 2 weeks? by replacing two meals and two snacks a day with Special K cereals, crackers, shakes, or bars.

(Ignore it. If you could replace entire meals with a serving of cereal, crackers, or a bar, any brand would probably work.)

Special K Protein Plus is different. A ?-cup serving is high in protein (10 grams), but low in calories (100). Most cereals have just a gram or two of protein. Kashi?s GoLean line is an exception, but you have to pick carefully. A cup of original GoLean supplies 13 grams of protein for its 140 calories, but GoLean Crunch!?s 9 grams of protein come with 190 calories.

Special K Protein Plus cereal has another plus. Its first ingredient is wheat bran, which accounts for most of each serving?s 5 grams of fiber. That?s close to the 7 grams you?d get in a 190-calorie serving (1 cup) of Kellogg?s Raisin Bran. Granted, Protein Plus isn?t 100 percent whole grain. It?s got some (white) rice after the soy grits (which supply most of the protein). But the extra bran makes up for some of the refined grain.

Protein Plus keeps a lid on calories in part because it?s so low in sugar. Kellogg adds a touch of the safe sweetener sucralose (Splenda) to its ? teaspoon of table sugar plus high-fructose corn syrup.

A bowl of Protein Plus is a perfect home for a handful of sliced berries, bananas, or peaches. Now that?s special.

Please let Kellogg know that you appreciate healthy cereals:
Kellogg: (800) 962-1413

Red meat may raise the risk of strokes caused by artery blockages.

Researchers tracked nearly 35,000 Swedish women for roughly 10 years. Those who ate an average of at least three ounces of red meat a day had a 22 percent higher risk of stroke caused by blocked arteries in the brain than those who averaged less than an ounce of red meat a day. Women who ate the most processed meat (at least 1? ounces a day) had a 24 percent higher risk than those who ate little or none.

What to do: Whether or not future studies confirm these results, it?s worth cutting back on red meat to lower your risk of heart disease and colon cancer.

Source: Stroke 42: 324, 2011.

You can also make this simple-but-satisfying dish with green beans, wax beans, snow peas, or asparagus.

Total time to prepare: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 large egg
1 ? lbs. snap peas
1 shallot, minced
1 Tbs. whole-grain Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
In a medium pot, bring the egg and enough water to cover to a boil. Cook for 8 minutes. Remove the egg with a spoon and immerse in cold water until cooled. Peel and finely chop the egg, then set it aside.

In the same pot, steam or boil the snap peas until tender, about 3 minutes. Rinse under cold water to cool, then drain well.

In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Add the snap peas and toss to coat. Garnish with the egg. Serves 6.

Nutrition Information:
Per 1-cup Serving ?
Calories: 110
Sodium: 125 mg
Total Fat: 5 g
Cholesterol: 30 mg
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Carbohydrates: 10 g
Protein: 4 g
Fiber: 3 g

Source: http://www.nutritionaction.com/daily-caffeine-in-food/metabolism-and-tea

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