04 Jan 2019

Does Tea Promote Weight Loss?

Nutrition Advice

Tea; it’s one of those quaint drinks forever associated with etiquette and charm, but importantly, it has the ability to boost metabolism.

Tea is not generally linked with building sites or mechanic shops; no, stained coffee mugs are well and truly the go there. Tea is also one of the most popular drinks in the world and now available in an array of flavours and forms.

Health benefits of drinking tea

Not only is tea a tasty and refreshing beverage whether served hot or cold, it also has surprising health benefits. Tea is linked with a reduced risk of heart disease and cell damage as well as helps lower your risk of diabetes and stroke. Additionally, it can also be beneficial in helping us to lose weight and fight off belly fat.

Can drinking tea help with weight loss?

It seems so, but not all tea is created equal. Clearly, any of those sweetened cold teas found in supermarket fridges aren’t going to help with anything but a sugar rush.

No, for weight loss you do need to choose a few very specific varieties. Some of these are:

Green tea for weight loss

green tea

Green tea is up there as one of the most popular and healthy teas out there. Green tea also happens to be one of the most accepted teas by weight loss aficionados.

While this is largely due to green tea’s agreeable flavour, there is a heavy bundle of evidence linking green tea to weight loss and reductions in both belly fat and waist circumference.

Experts believe this is due to green tea’s high catechin content, a natural antioxidant that increases metabolism and, thus, burns fat.

Black tea

Black Tea

If you’re not familiar with black tea, it’s basically tea that’s gone through a more intense oxidation process than other teas. Earl Grey is a black tea, as is English Breakfast.

Does black tea help weight loss? Seems so; black tea is high in flavones, a rather handy antioxidant that assists with weight loss and general body mass reduction.

Oolong tea

Oolong Tea

A bit obscure, perhaps, but oolong tea is a traditional Chinese tea oxidized to fit somewhere between green tea and black tea.

Like the above varieties, oolong helps to speed up our metabolism and burn more fat.

White tea

White Tea

Last, but not least, white tea is what you might call a ‘young’ tea, harvested earlier than most other teas. As a result, it’s not as strongly flavoured, more delicate and even a little sweet.

As for weight loss, chances are white tea is a safe bet, but it simply hasn’t been the subject of any concerted studies as yet.

What is the best tea for weight loss?

Well, green tea seems to have the universal appeal and its weight loss benefits are backed up by reputable studies. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t trust in black tea and oolong tea as well; you’ll still achieve some pleasing weight loss results.

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