When you drink green tea, the caffeine and natural plant compounds work together to help your body burn more calories and fat—something neither one can do by itself.

Drinking green tea might help you burn more calories and fat, but it’s not because of the caffeine—it’s something else in the tea, since just taking the same amount of caffeine by itself doesn’t do anything noticeable.

If you drink less than about three cups of coffee a day, green tea extract might help you burn fat better—but if you’re already a big caffeine drinker, it might not help as much.

Drinking green tea extract might help some people burn more fat while sitting around, with studies showing about a 16% boost on average—but it doesn’t work the same for everyone because the tea’s ingredients and your body type can change the results.

Drinking green tea extract might turn on your body’s ‘fight or flight’ system a bit more, causing you to burn more calories and fat — and this is shown by a 40% rise in a stress-related chemical in your urine.

Drinking one cup of green tea extract with a bit of caffeine and a special compound called EGCG can help your body burn slightly more calories and more fat throughout the day—without changing how it handles protein.