ECGC

[Q.]

I found one other post about ECGC but it was as much about caffeine as this actual supplement. The article below says that it produced about a 4% increase in metabolic rate but I don't know the dosage. Anybody use it successfully? My wife has been taking it for other reasons and she says she's lost weight but it wasn't a controlled experiment.

Source

Green tea extract is found in weight-loss supplements such as Xenedrine EFX, Metabolife Ephedra Free and Stacker 2. Green tea extract contains caffeine and EGCG (epigallocatechin.) Supplement manufacturers claim EGCG plus caffeine can cause weight loss by increasing metabolic rate. A recent research study using green tea extract showed that ECGC plus caffeine (but not caffeine alone) caused a slight (4%) increase in caloric expenditure (about 80 calories a day in male subjects.) At this time green tea extract appears to be safe, but few studies on this supplement have been conducted.

[Leigh P.]

Most Studies that have been done worked with EGCG alongside caffeine, we know caffeine increases your thermic effect.

This study though they did tons of experiements with EGCG and other catechins that were pure and isolated from green tea (so not along side of caffeine).

http://endo.endojournals.org/cgi/con...b0c7b9c5480cf5

Green tea polyphenols, especially the catechin, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), have been proposed as a cancer chemopreventative based on a variety of laboratory studies. For clear assessment of the possible physiological effects of green tea consumption, we injected pure green tea catechins ip into rats and studied their acute effects on endocrine systems. We found that EGCG, but not related catechins, significantly reduced food intake; body weight; blood levels of testosterone, estradiol, leptin, insulin, insulin-like growth factor I, LH, glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride; as well as growth of the prostate, uterus, and ovary. Similar effects were observed in lean and obese male Zucker rats, suggesting that the effect of EGCG was independent of an intact leptin receptor. EGCG may interact specifically with a component of a leptin-independent appetite control pathway. Endocrine changes induced by parenteral administration of EGCG may relate to the observed growth inhibition and regression of human prostate and breast tumors in athymic mice treated with EGCG as well as play a role in the mechanism by which EGCG inhibits cancer initiation and promotion in various animal models of cancer.

[AllaboutBball]

so it lowers testosterone levels in the blood? bye bye grean tea every morning

[Mohr Results]

Here's a snippet on green tea from a book I co-authored:

Green Tea
Green tea extract has also recently seen a surge in popularity; it is hard not to find it on the ingredient list of fat loss supplements. Even green tea as a beverage has surged in popularity as it is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, second only to water (Chantre & Lairon, 2002). The particular extract in green that is of importance is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is one of four catechins found in green tea (Kao, Hiipakka, & Liao, 2000). Among the four, EGCG has showed promised as an adjunct to an effective diet and exercise regimen (Kao et al., 2000). However, it is not only the EGCG that appears to be relevant in green tea, but also the naturally occurring caffeine (Dulloo et al., 1999). There is approximately 10-80 mg of caffeine/cup (Kaegi, 1998) and 50 to 100 mg EGCG. There is a synergistic relationship between the two in the process of increasing thermogenesis.
A study published in 1999 demonstrated that green tea does in fact increase metabolic rate (Dulloo et al., 1999). In this particular study, research gave subjects one of three supplements: green tea extract (providing a total of 270 mg EGCG plus 150 mg caffeine per day), 150 mg caffeine per day, or a placebo. The caffeine only group was included to determine if the EGCG had any additive effect to the known ergogenic benefits of caffeine. After the short, 24-hour study, researchers noted a significant increase in resting metabolic rate (4%) in the EGCG + caffeine group vs. the caffeine or placebo groups. Although this did not correlate to a decrease in body weight, it was only a one day study. Therefore, longer term research is necessary to determine if the body would grow accustomed to this stimulant, or if this increase in metabolic rate would continue for the duration of supplementation, which could obviously enhance weight loss.
Longer studies need to be conducted to truly assess the efficacy of this supplement on weight management. One cup of brewed green tea supplies approximately 50 to 100 mg of EGCG and approximately 10 to 80 mg caffeine. There is also a bevy of research to support the other healthy benefits of tea (Bushman, 1998; Kaegi, 1998; Mitscher LA, 1997; Siddiqui, Afaq, Adhami, Ahmad, & Mukhtar, 2004) so coupled with the research that tea as a beverage is correlated to lower body weight and body fat (Wu et al., 2003), regular consumption is a wise idea if there are no known contraindications, such as use of coumadin (Booth, Madabushi, Davidson, & Sadowski, 1995; Taylor & Wilt, 1999). Some literature suggests that green tea may mimic the actions of anti-platelet prescription medications, which could cause harm if consumed together (Son et al., 2004).