You need fat to survive. but in our part of the world where we eat too much and exercise too little, fat tends to stick with us. You can deal with it by eating less fat and putting on your runners more often, but you can also do what more and dieters are doing these days: take a combination of a natural oil called CLA together with an extract of green tea.
Science has looked into these two compounds and has come to the conclusion that they work individually and combined. CLA, which stands for conjugated linoleic acid, is a natural substance found in meat and dairy products that can reduce your body fat by 8-9% if you take it as a supplement on daily basis. In a Norwegian study that was published several years ago, not only did CLA reduce body fat in overweight volunteers, it actually helped them increase their muscle mass too.
More recent research conducted by Danish scientists has even shown that in women, CLA supplements seem to have an affinity for fat around the hips and waist. One national newspaper published a story whare CLA was presented as “the ideal remedy for shrinking your bottom”. Interestingly, another study carried out on male subjetcs demonstrated that CLA, when given in supplemental form, tended to reduce their belly fat. Apparently, the substance has somewhat different effects depending on your sex.
Green tea is an entirely different story. This ancient beverage contains an active compound called EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate). Besides having a number of known health benefits, EGCG can boost fat oxidation – another expression for the turnover of fat into energy. Not too long ago, Swiss scientists demonstrated in a study that green tea extract increased fat oxidation by nearly 33% if ingested in conjunction with a meal.
