Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Review: Natural Goal Green Tea Extract



Green Tea has been touted as the most amazing substance on earth. Depending on one’s needs and metabolism, it certainly may be!
You may have heard that Green Tea may be able to reduce cholesterol, aid in weight loss, or reduce high blood pressure. But in looking at the research (such as found on WebMD), it would take drinking a lot of green tea every day. In fact, Natural Goal's Green Tea Extract boasts two to three times more antioxidants (called catechins) in one of its extract pills versus drinking two-to-three cups of tea. Think of having to eat three stacks of bowls of cereal to meet the amount of fiber in one bowl of Total cereal! I’d rather eat the Total, thank you very much. I’d also rather take a pill as opposed to drinking many cups of bitter, green tea. (I'm not a fan of green tea, no matter how good it is for me.)
The package arrived within 48 hours of making the order, in a bubble-wrap lined envelope. 

The bottle itself was sealed twice for safety: once with a shrink-wrapped band around the rim and again with a foil liner under the cap. (I went through the Tylenol-Tampering Scare of the 80s, so this particular double layer of security is important to me.)   

There is a little flap attachment to the cap so it’s easy for adults – and remember, for children – to open the bottle, so due precautions are important when storing.
Since this was my first time using a particularly concentrated extract, I reached out to Natural Goal via E-mail asking for both its expected benefits and how taking the extract might be more beneficial than simply drinking the regular steeped tea. Each time, I received a polite and knowledgeable response within a week. They were thoroughly  responsive to each question, even gleaning responses from their production department.
In addition to finding out that these supplements are an alternative to drinking several cups of green tea, I learned Green Tea Extract is absorbed into the system most quickly with a smidge of caffeine and Vitamin C. This sample contained (up to) 32 mg caffeine and 60mg Vitamin C.
Note that this product is Green Tea Extract is advertised as “Caffeine Free.” Natural Goal explained that the amount of caffeine is negligible, as the amount of caffeine in green tea much lower than the caffeine in coffee or even other types of tea. Confirmed by the Mayo Clinic, the average cup of coffee has between 95mg and 200mg caffeine. Comparatively, Natural Goal’s Green Tea Extract has 32mg of caffeine or less. So, if you had the daily dosage of one capsule at breakfast or even lunch, it is unlikely to interfere with sleep. 


Everyone has a unique physiology, and many factors like pre-existing health conditions, lifestyle, environment, and other medications should be considered when judging the efficacy of Green Tea. Therefore, I recommend that you know what your specific goal actually is before you start taking this supplement. For example, if  you’re looking to green tea (in either liquid or pill form) to reduce blood pressure, start with a blood pressure base line and see the effects for yourself over a 30-day period (if any).  
Natural Goal Green Tea can provide a high dose of natural antioxidants, and drinking green tea can lower the intake of sugary drinks throughout the day, which cuts out a significant amount of calories. Note that if you are looking to use the Green Tea Extract for weight loss, the recommended amount of liquid tea would have to be the equivalent of four pills. Natural Goal’s production department does not recommend ingesting this much. To wit:
[The] dose was set to be sure that the use of the Green tea extract would be within very conservative health support margins. Higher doses daily may cause unwanted side effects. That's not to say it will have any side effects if you take 2 [pills] but again we set the dosages conservatively to be safe and avoid any potential side effects.

The gluten-free pill itself was easy to swallow and didn’t stick in my throat. As often happens with pure extracts in pill form, there was neither tummy upset nor aftertaste (like garlic pills). I've noticed small changes in my metabolism, as well: I seem to digest food more quickly than before I started taking Green Tea Extract.
Overall, I would recommend this Green Tea Extract supplement to those who have determined that this product would be best for their diet and lifestyle. 


8 comments:

  1. That's the problem with a lot of natural good-for-you substances...it takes huge amounts to get enough of the beneficial ingredient to have an impact. This product sounds like a good alternative to drinking the tea (I don't care much for green tea either. It always smells like freshly cut grass to me.)

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  2. I have never tried green tea anything before but I know I should be looking into it. There are so many great health benefits from them.

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  3. Thanks for sharing on the Healthy Living Link Party.

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  4. I love drinking green tea so I'll need to check this out. #ProductReviewParty

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  5. Seems like this supplements has a lot of great benefits, I like drinking Green Tea but have never tried a supplement.

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  6. Thanks for this great review and thanks for sharing it with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  7. I love that you get so much of the benefits of green tea with this pill. It would be much easier to take a pill for me because I can't remember to drink 3 cups a day.

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  8. Yeah I am also one of those persons who’ll opt out for Green supplements rather than drinking bitter green tea. I purchase these pills from ivlproducts.com. Along with green tea extracts these pills contain various other nutrients.

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