¹Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Correspondence: Margriet S. Westerterp-Plantenga, Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, NL-6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. E-mail: m.westerterp@hb.unimaas.nl

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Received 10 August 2004; Accepted 9 May 2005.

Abstract

Objective: Investigation of the effect of a green tea-caffeine mixture on weight maintenance after body weight loss in moderately obese subjects in relation to habitual caffeine intake.

Research Methods and Procedures: A randomized placebo-controlled double blind parallel trial in 76 overweight and moderately obese subjects, (BMI, 27.5 2.7 kg/m²) matched for sex, age, BMI, height, body mass, and habitual caffeine intake was conducted. A very low energy diet intervention during 4 weeks was followed by 3 months of weight maintenance (WM); during the WM period, the subjects received a green tea-caffeine mixture (270 mg epigallocatechin gallate + 150 mg caffeine per day) or placebo.

Results: Subjects lost 5.9 1.8 (SD) kg (7.0 2.1%) of body weight (p < 0.001). At baseline, satiety was positively, and in women, leptin was inversely, related to subjects' habitual caffeine consumption (p < 0.01). High caffeine consumers reduced weight, fat mass, and waist circumference more than low caffeine consumers; resting energy expenditure was reduced less and respiratory quotient was reduced more during weight loss (p < 0.01). In the low caffeine consumers, during WM, green tea still reduced body weight, waist, respiratory quotient and body fat, whereas resting energy expenditure was increased compared with a restoration of these variables with placebo (p < 0.01). In the high caffeine consumers, no effects of the green tea-caffeine mixture were observed during WM.

Discussion: High caffeine intake was associated with weight loss through thermogenesis and fat oxidation and with suppressed leptin in women. In habitual low caffeine consumers, the green tea-caffeine mixture improved WM, partly through thermogenesis and fat oxidation.