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As with so many sky-rockets to fame, the Perricone Prescription — more widely known as the green tea diet — came to the world’s attention on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah’s guest was a very respected Dr. Nicholas Perricone, author of numerous books, including the Perricone Prescription that detailed the medical research behind the spectacular fat burning properties of green tea and green tea extract.

During his appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Perricone declared that replacing coffee with green tea could produce weight loss of 10 pounds in 6 weeks. Is it really possible to lose weight with green tea alone? According to Dr. Perricone (as well as numerous medical research studies), green tea and green tea extract contain chemicals that perform at least 3 functions in the body that encourage weight loss. Let’s look at the connection between green tea and weight loss.

1. Green tea regulates glucose and insulin levels. Sharp spikes of insulin tell the body it needs to store fat. As Dr. Perricone puts it, “elevated insulin puts a lock on body fat.” Coffee, on the other hand, contains an ingredient that raises blood sugar and, in turn, insulin levels. Green tea regulates blood sugar itself, preventing the production of excess insulin. “If you do nothing else but substitute coffee with green tea, your insulin levels will drop and you will lose weight,” says Dr. Perricone.

2. Green tea increases our metabolism. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition released a study in which metabolism rates rose by 4% in a 24 hour period. A chemical in green tea elicits thermogenic activity in the body (a fancy term for the rate at which your body burns calories). This phytonutrient also raises levels of oxidation of body fat (the burning of fat cells).

3. Green tea reduces appetite. Weight loss of 21% of body weight was noted in laboratory mice in a University of Chicago study. The researchers reported that the fat loss was due to substantial loss of appetite and diminished calorie consumption. While Dr. Perricone has not referred to appetite suppression as a benefit of green tea, a few other studies have also asserted this theory.

Green tea and green tea extract (the extract is simply a concentrated form of the effective ingredients in green tea) offer many other health benefits, which may not directly impact weight loss, but which are excellent disease preventatives. Green tea has been reported to lower cholesterol levels, lower high blood pressure, prevent certain cancers and preclude or reverse liver damage.