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.*