Combining Green Tea with Aerobic Exercise Reduces Central Adiposity and Serum Lipid in Sedentary Women

Obesity is a complex disorder which is characterised by excessive accumulation of adipose tissue and is linked to many health problems including cardiovascular disease. Green tea has anti-oxidant properties and has been shown to be beneficial for reducing obesity measures such as waist to hip ratio and fat mass. Physical activity and particularly aerobic exercise has been linked with weight reduction. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of green tea consumption and aerobic exercise on obesity measures and in particular on lipid profiles and waist to hip ratio (WHR) in sedentary women. Forty females were recruited from a population of sedentary women who had been referred by their doctor to a fitness facility. All participants signed an informed consent and were randomly assigned to either one of four intervention groups: a) aerobic exercise, b) green tea, c) aerobic exercise and green tea, and d) control. Before and after the eight-week intervention, waist to hip ratio (WHR) and lipid levels (HDL, LDL, triglycerides and cholesterol) were measured. Results showed that WHR showed no change in control but reduced significantly in the other three groups. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels remained unchanged in all groups. HDL level increased significantly in aerobic exercise and in green tea and aerobic exercise group, but remained unchanged in green tea. LDL level reduced only in green tea and aerobic exercise group with no changes in green tea. HDL:LDL changed significantly in green tea and aerobic exercise group. These findings suggest that green tea consumption alone for eight weeks at three cups per day can reduce central adiposity. However the combination of green tea consumption and aerobic exercise appears to elicit improvements the lipid profile in addition to reducing central adiposity.