Green tea is popular for its antioxidant properties and its thermogenic (fat burning) effect. Thorne’s Green Tea Phytosome contains powerful antioxidant polyphenols, and it exhibits further antioxidant effect by helping to maintain the body’s level of glutathione, another important antioxidant. Green tea extracts can increase natural energy expenditure and fat oxidation, thus essentially burning calories. The polyphenols in green tea also offer liver-protective benefits and help maintain the body’s normal inflammatory response to oxidative stressors. Thorne’s Green Tea Phytosome is optimally absorbed; for example, one study showed the peak blood concentration of the important polyphenol constituent EGCG from the Green Tea Phytosome complex, measured over six hours, was almost twice that of a non-complexed green tea extract.

Greenselect Phytosome, the ingredient utilized in Thorne’s Green Tea Phytosome, was tested in obese subjects (n=100) of both genders on a low-caloric diet; 50 subjects were assigned to the green tea extract plus the low-calorie diet, while the other 50 subjects followed just the low-calorie diet. After 90 days, significantly greater improvements in weight and body mass index were observed in the Greenselect Phytosome group compared to the diet-only group.

Human studies of green tea’s weight management properties revealed greater calorie burning by individuals who took the extract compared to individuals who did not. Although some of the effects of green tea extract are attributed to its caffeine content, one study found increased metabolic rate and greater fat metabolism in subjects taking a green tea extract compared to subjects who took a placebo, even though the green tea extract did not contain caffeine.