Taking Green Tea for Full Antioxidant Power
To obtain the full benefits of the antioxidants in green tea, you should take green tea in between meals. First, this will ensure that catechins, which is one of the major antioxidants, does not react with casein that is present in milk and other forms of animal protein. This reaction usually reduces the effectiveness of green tea.
Also, green tea is known to inhibit the digestion of calcium and non-heme iron (the iron derived from plant).[1] This can lead to problems for those who are prone to anemia. Chinese studies on green tea have also discovered that green tea reduces the absorption of macro nutrients such as fat and protein. Therefore, you should take your green tea at least two hours before or after your meals.
Taking Green Tea for Weight Loss
Green tea promotes weight loss in two ways: by boosting the body’s metabolism and by inhibiting the absorption of fat. If you want to use green tea to lose weight, you can take it along with your meals. However, you should only do this if you don’t have a very sensitive stomach. Green tea is alkaline in nature and it stimulates the secretion of extra gastric acid.