Benefits of Green Tea for the Metabolism - Essay Example

"Benefits of the Green Tea for Metabolism" is a perfect example of a paper on food and nutrition. 
Objective

To determine whether green tea raises an individual’s metabolism.

Research

It is a widely accepted fact that there are several health benefits of drinking green tea. It is said to contain powerful antioxidants and flavonoids that combat several illnesses. It is also said that green tea has thermogenic properties that aid in raising the body’s metabolism. In a study conducted several years ago, results show that green tea hastens fat oxidation and increases the body’s metabolism that is beyond the caffeine content explanation (Dulloo et al., 2000, p.252). Another study states that there is an observed considerable increase in metabolism due to regular green tea consumption, attributed to the catechins content in the unfermented leaves, coupled with the natural caffeine (Cooper, 2012, p.91). A recent study on green tea also states that there are several available prior researches suggesting green tea as capable of fat reduction in the body, although it is not yet certain whether it is a useful way of losing weight (Johnson, Bryant, & Huntley, 2012, p.280).

Hypothesis

If drinking green tea raises your metabolism, people who drink green tea multiple times a day will have a higher metabolism than people who drink no green tea at all.

Experiment

            Participants.

The experiment will involve 180 young and physically able and healthy males and females. 90 males and 90 females are needed for the research, and both groups will be divided into subgroups (see Table 1). Each subgroup will have around 30 participants, which will be again divided into 3 divisions according to supplement intake (green tea extract, caffeine, and placebo).

Table 1: PARTICIPANT SUBGROUPS.

SUBGROUPS

GREEN TEA EXTRACT

50 MG CAFFEINE

PLACEBO CAPSULE

a.      30 males, slightly underweight

10

10

10

b.     30 males, normal body weight

10

10

10

c.      30 males, slightly overweight

10

10

10

d.     30 females, slightly underweight

10

10

10

e.      30 females, normal body weight

10

10

10

f.      30 females, slightly overweight

10

10

10

            Procedure.

Prior to the research, all the required and necessary ethics processes for studies involving humans will be done. This will include ensuring that all participants are volunteers and that none of them have allergies to any of the ingredients to be used in the study. Each participant should also know what the study is for and agree to its purpose.

For three consecutive days, each participant will be given supplements of either a.) green tea extract, b.) 50 mg caffeine or c.) placebo capsule. Each participant should be carefully considered to fall under the categories in Table 1. To ensure maximum objectivity, none among the participants will know which supplement is given to them. They will then spend 24 hours in a special chamber where energy use can be observed. To ensure maximum accuracy, the whole process of observation will be repeated on 4 separate occasions, with every observation carefully documented.

Data Analysis

The data gathered from the observations will provide a good gauge on whether green tea truly aids in raising the body’s metabolism. This is similar to the study done years ago, where the thermogenic properties of green tea are observed through the energy utilization of individuals who took green tea. Some variations were added in this experiment, particularly in terms of gender and body mass/weight. This is to include or weigh possibilities of body weight or mass index and gender in affecting the thermogenic properties of green tea.

Conclusion

            The conclusion in this experiment should support or refute the hypothesis. Thus, the whole experiment should be able to determine whether there is truly a considerable rise in the body’s metabolism after green tea intake.