How to lose weight by drinking Tea

I am not a physician, a dietician, a nutritionist or a psychiatrist. I am just a
regular guy that is into getting and staying healthy. Ive sat back and watched healthy people and took notes on what they did. One of the things they had in common is what they drink. Do you know which beverage is the most consumed in the world? No, it’s not coffee, or beer, or wine. It’s water. And what comes next on the list? Still not coffee. Nor wine nor beer. It’s tea. In the most populated countries in the world, the drink they consume most often after water is tea. It’s time for tea to be recognized in this country, not only for the health benefits most of the world have known about for centuries, but for its incredible ability to help stop one of the world’s biggest health crises to date: obesity. Americans, and American children and teenagers, are getting larger and larger every year and are paying the consequences in diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Millions of Americans go on and off diets every day, myself included. You are probably one of those millions , and you are probably tired of your own yo-yo dieting experiences. We try to eat right, to make healthy choices, and to get off our addictions to sugar and caffeine, but it’s just too hard. So we turn to drugs; we buy supplements made from rare plants found only on the four corners of the earth. By doing that we cut out entire food groups; and we get totally confused by what the latest diet guru is telling us to eat (which is just the opposite of what the previous guru said). What we don’t know is
that we don’t need drugs, supplements, or slide rules to help us figure out how to shed the pounds. What we do need to know is very simple: Drinking tea will help us lose weight. Yes, tea. Inexpensive. Good tasting. And available to everyone everywhere. Tea, with natural ingredients that will not only help us lose weight, but will reduce our cravings for sweets, suppress our appetite, increase our insulin’s effectiveness, lower our cholesterol, and stimulate thermogenesis, which helps the body burn fat for energy. All this from a cup of tea!
How Does It Work?
The secret is the synergy of tea’s three main ingredients: caffeine,
L-theanine, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), But here’s a quick rundown of the ingredients, starting with caffeine. Because caffeine is a stimulant, it will help you lose weight. Unfortunately, however, caffeine has unhealthy side effects. Recent studies have shown that caffeine raises both blood sugar and insulin levels. Tea has caffeine, but it has far less than you’ll find in a cup of coffee. And here’s the “magic” of tea: It also has L-theanine, an amino acid that works to counter caffeine’s harmful effects. L-theanine also influences the neurotransmitters in the brain that affect your dopamine and serotonin levels which send the brain signals of satiety. The more tea you drink, the stronger the message to your brain that says “I’m not hungry.” Therefore, tea not only helps you lose weight, it helps you to reduce your appetite and stay on a diet as well.
The third secret ingredient of tea is EGCG, the miracle antioxidant that stimulates your body’s metabolism; you’re actually burning fats as you sit there drinking your tea. EGCG also lowers the levels of triglycerides in the blood and inhibits the accumulation of fatty acids in the fat cells, thus making it a significant antiobesity agent. Can you eat whatever you want and still lose weight simply by adding tea to your diet? Probably not. But if you start by drinking tea, it will begin its work on your alpha brain waves, your neurotransmitters, and your metabolism to
increase your energy and decrease your appetite. When you add tea into your weight-loss food plan and a moderate amount of exercise, the pounds and inches will come off quickly and safely.
Drink tea all day so that your body is constantly metabolizing. Scientists
agree that an average adult should consume between 2 and 2.5
liters of water per day (that’s about eight to ten 8-ounce glasses). This
intake needs to be increased during periods of hot weather, and during
and after periods of physical activity. Your daily requirement doesn’t
have to be pure water, however. Tea counts just as well! I recommend
at least eight 8-ounce cups a day. But most people using tea in their
diet consume tea by filling their 16- or 24-ounce water bottles, sip from them all day,
and refill when necessary.
Plan your meals for the day. Everything we do starts with our
thoughts. Start the day by thinking about the day’s menu, and focus
your energy on carrying out that plan.
Identify the foods that trigger your bingeing. Everyone has foods
that turn on the urge to overeat. For some people it’s bread, for others
it’s ice cream, cookies, cake, or candy bars. Even though drinking tea
will help curb those cravings, you have to know which particular foods
will have you fighting against the tea’s effects, and eliminate those
foods from your pantry and your diet.
Eat only when you’re hungry and stop eating when you’re full. We
all eat for a variety of reasons. Learn to identify your eating habits (do
you eat when you’re anxious, happy, stressed, overtired?). Let your
body tell you when you need to refuel for sustenance and energy, not
for comfort or for relief of emotional pain.
Replace any bad eating habits with a cup of tea. If you have to have
something sweet before bedtime, try a caramel- or chocolate-flavored
tea, or a tea infused with hints of apple, blueberry, or pumpkin pie. If what you’re about to eat is not on your plan for the day, find a suitable tea to replace it—and the pounds will begin to disappear.
Not too long ago in America, a cup of tea was a cup of tea was a cup
of tea. Now you can go into almost any supermarket and find
dozens of brands and flavors from which to choose. This is good
news and bad news. It’s good because people are drinking more tea than ever,
and that’s what we want to happen. The bad news is that you may be confused—
if not intimidated—by all the tea options and don’t know how to
make the right choice.
Here’s the first and perhaps the most important thing you need to know:
Not everything you think of as tea is really tea. All true tea comes from one
plant, Camellia sinensis. That’s right! All tea comes from one plant. There is
not a white tea plant, a green tea plant, an oolong tea plant, or a black tea
plant. There is only one tea plant. Now you know more about tea than 95 percent
of the rest of America does. So when you read about a medical study
where green tea is proven to aid in weight loss, or if you read that white tea is
good for reducing cholesterol, you now know that all tea comes from the Camellia
sinensis plant, so it does not matter which type you drink.
An oftenly asked which kind of tea is the healthiest. The answer is always
the same: “The kind you like to drink.” There are some minor differences in
the four kinds of tea: White teas and green teas have slightly higher levels of
polyphenols (antioxidants found in plants); oolong and black tea have recently
been shown to be more effective in preventing certain diseases, such as heart
disease and high blood pressure. However, the general consensus is that the
kind of tea you drink is not as important as the fact that you drink it.
All four types of tea have the same health benefits. All four types of tea will
aid in your weight loss; all four types of tea will help reduce cholesterol. And
all four types of tea have many more proven health benefits.
If the beverage you’re drinking does not come from Camellia sinensis, it
is not tea. “Tisane” (tee-SAHN) is the term used within the industry for anything
that resembles tea but does not come from the tea plant. When we talk
about tea , we are talking about the four main categories of tea that come from this plant: white, green, oolong, and black.
This is important to remember because if you want to lose weight on the
Tea Diet, you must drink true tea. Only tea that comes from the Camellia
sinensis plant contains the properties that will help you lose weight. Of
course, if you want to drink tisanes in addition to true tea, go right ahead. Although
they don’t contain weight-loss aids, most have other positive health
benefits. And many are extremely helpful for reducing cravings for sweet snacks,
especially in the evening hours.
The Four Teas of Camellia Sinensis
If all true tea comes from the same plant, how are the different types created?
What distinguishes one type of tea from another is the way the leaves and leaf
buds are processed after harvesting; these processes vary somewhat from
country to country, but the basic concepts are the same around the world. Because
all tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, the differences are created
by the length of time the tea leaves are allowed to “ferment,” or oxidize.
White Tea
White tea, which has always been revered as the “Tea of Royals,” is the most
delicate and least processed tea in the world. White tea, named for the hao, or
the white hair on the bud or baby leaf, is known for its mild flavor and natural
sweetness. It is made from young leaves that have undergone no oxidation. The
production of authentic white tea is restricted to a limited geographical area in
southeastern China’s Fujian province. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1990s that
white tea was introduced to the Western world. It possesses the least caffeine of
all the tea types, and is prized for its cooling and refreshing character while delivering
many antioxidant and heart-strengthening elements, and is becoming
more and more popular as a result of the newfound health benefits.
White tea was being produced as far back as the Tang Dynasty (618–907
AD). At that time, the nature of the beverage and the style of tea preparation
were quite different from the way we experience tea today. Tea leaves were processed
into cakes and prepared by boiling pieces of the compressed tea in earthenware
kettles. This special white tea of Tang was picked in early spring when
the new growths of tea bushes that resemble silver needles were abundant.
The processing sequence for white tea is:
1. Leaves and buds are harvested.
2. Leaves and buds are cleaned.
3. Leaves and buds are dried.
Green Tea
During the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), production and preparation of tea
changed throughout China. Even then, people were looking for convenience;
a new form of tea emerged as a result of people wanting more and more tea
without having to take the time to brew the leaves. The tea leaves were picked
and quickly steamed to preserve their color and fresh character. After steaming,
the leaves were dried. The finished tea was then ground into fine powders
that were whisked in wide bowls. The resulting beverage resembled what we
know of today as instant tea—you mixed the tea powder with hot water and
voila! Your tea was ready in an instant.
This tea was highly regarded for its deep emerald or iridescent white appearance
and its rejuvenating and healthy energy. This style of tea preparation,
using powdered tea and ceramic ware, became known as the Song tea
ceremony. Although it later became extinct in China, this Song style of tea
evolved into what is now the Japanese tea ceremony that endures still today.
Today, there are between 12,500 and 20,000 green teas produced in China
alone (although they are named and renamed so many times—for no apparent
reason—that no one knows exactly how many there are). It is similar to wine
in that respect. There are thousands of vineyards that produce wines; not all of
them make it to market, or are meant to do so. It’s the same with tea in China.
There are thousands of individual tea plantations and each produces its own
variety of tea. Some are meant only for an individual farmer’s consumption;
others may be distributed in a local area; and still others are grown for the
commercial market and shipped worldwide.
As with white tea, the bud and leaves for green tea are picked, cleaned, and
dried. The tea leaves then undergo a minimal amount of oxidation. Green tea
has very low levels of caffeine, and derives its distinctive, healthy good flavor
from the area in which it is grown and the techniques used to produce the tea.
The processing sequence for green tea is:
1. Leaves and buds are harvested.
2. Leaves and buds are cleaned.
3. Leaves and buds are dried.
4. In Japan, the leaves are steamed, which stops any fermentation.
5. In China, the leaves are placed in very hot woks to stop any fermentation.
6. The tea is then rolled, cut, ground, or shaped into a form uniquely associated
with the plantation on which it is grown.
Dragon’s Well is the most famous of Chinese green teas; it grows on the peaks
of the Tieh Mu (t’yeh MOO) mountain range. Chinese mythology tells us
that the dragon is the king of the waters. History tells us that in 250 AD,
there was a drought at the Dragon’s Well monastery. A monk prayed to the
dragon, pleading for rain. His prayers were immediately answered, and the tea
produced there received its name.
Oolong Tea
Oolong tea, referred to as the Champagne of teas, is a semioxidized whole-leaf
tea, which retains all of the nutrients and natural healing factors contained in
unfermented green tea, but without the raw, grassy taste. It falls somewhere
between green and black tea, with complex flavor and aroma. The leaves go
through a very brief fermentation process, which eliminates harsh irritants
from the raw tea and creates the subtle fragrances and flavors that distinguish
this tea from all other varieties.
Oolong legend tells us Wu Liang (who lived during the Ming Dynasty in
China, around 1400 AD), a tea farmer, went out one day to pick tea, as he
did every day in the tea-picking season. He had collected quite a bit when
his eye was caught by a deer drinking by the river. He stopped his tea-picking
activities and killed the poor animal (sorry to have to report this). He
took the slain deer home, as it would provide him with a week’s worth of
meals. He forgot all about his tea. When he went back to collect his load, he
found that the tea had started to blacken. We know today, it had begun to
oxidize.
Wu Liang thought that it might have gone bad, but decided to proceed
with his traditional preparations. He dried the tea by pan-firing, as was done
with the green teas of the day. When he made a cup of this tea, he was surprised
to find that it tasted different than his usual green tea, and discovered
that he loved the flavor. He taught his neighbors and friends how to make the
new tea, and it came to be named after him. Language being what it is, the
name eventually evolved from Wu Liang to Oolong.
The processing sequence for oolong tea is:

1. Leaves and buds are harvested.
2. Leaves and buds are cleaned.
3. Leaves and buds are placed in bamboo containers and air is blown
through them. This process is referred to as “withering the leaves.”
4. The withered leaves are rolled, which releases the oils within the leaf.
These oils mix with the oxygen in the air and the leaves begin to ferment
or oxidize.
5. When the rolled leaves reach a dark blue-green color, they are placed
into a hot wok to stop the fermentation process and add flavor.
Black Tea
Of the four tea types, black tea is allowed to oxidize the longest and is known
for its beautiful red color and light sweet taste. (The Chinese call it red tea because
the actual tea liquid is red; westerners call it black tea because the tea
leaves used to brew it are usually black.) This process produces a hearty, deep,
rich flavor. Black tea contains the most caffeine, but still has only about half
the amount of a regular cup of coffee. About 75 percent of the tea produced
worldwide is black tea; it is the type of tea consumed by 87 percent of American
tea drinkers.
The processing sequence for black tea is:
1. Leaves and buds are harvested.
2. Leaves and buds are cleaned.
3. Leaves and buds are withered.
4. The withered leaves are cut and fermented.
5. When the cut leaves turn from blue-green to dark red or black, they
are placed into the hot wok to stop the fermentation process and add
flavor.
Tea’s Secret Weight-Loss Ingredients
Everyone and their mother knows that tea is good for you . But only in
the last ten years or so have scientists begun to turn their attention to the connection
between drinking tea and losing weight. Turns out there are three incredible
ingredients in tea that work synergistically to influence the metabolic
and nervous systems to help take the weight off and keep it off.
Each one of these ingredients taken alone has a degree of efficiency in helping
the body to shed pounds. But it’s the combination that gives tea its weight-loss power. And remember, these three ingredients are found naturally in the Camellia sinensis plant, not
manufactured in a chemical plant. Tea is truly a miracle of nature—what I
consider to be the most perfect plant ever created. I can’t help but get passionate
when I speak about tea because I get so caught up in just how much nature
can provide for us, if we only let it.
The excitement about tea goes as one scientific study after another proves that the talk about Cami is justified, especially where tea and weight loss is concerned. There is hard science behind the tea–weight loss connection that explains the synergy of the Tea powerful ingredients: caffeine, L-theanine, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). The names may be tricky but the science isn’t, it will explain what they are and how they
work together to increase your metabolism, keep you feeling satiated, and give
you more energy without setting your nerves on edge.
Secret Ingredient #1: Caffeine
It’s difficult to separate Tea’s ingredients in terms of each one’s influence on
weight loss, since each has an effect on the other. But to help you understand
how the overall process works, I’ll give it a try in simple nonscientific terms,
because I need things made simple for me to understand them and then incorporate
them into my life.
Let’s start with caffeine. Caffeine is a chemical found naturally in more than
sixty species of plants, including coffee, tea, and cocoa. Mother Nature put caffeine
in plants as a defense from insects consuming the leaves; caffeine is very
bitter. Too much caffeine can be detrimental to your health. However, caffeine is not all bad. It is a natural stimulant that has been shown to boost the process known as thermogenesis, or the generation of heat in the body. This process is at the center of weight loss; it
is the way in which fat molecules are “burned.” Thermal energy is divided into
calories; the more energy that is expended, the more calories you will burn.
Numerous studies have shown that caffeine increases energy expenditure.
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1989
concluded that “caffeine at commonly consumed doses can have a significant
influence on energy balance and may promote thermogenesis in the treatment
of obesity.”
This is why you find caffeine in most of the over-the-counter diet supplements
on supermarket and drugstore shelves today, many of which have extremely
unhealthy side effects. In another study published in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, this one in 1999, scientists studying the use of green tea extracts
concluded that tea not only promoted thermogenesis, but that unlike caffeine
alone, which arouses your nervous system and speeds up your heartbeat,
the use of green tea extract was “not accompanied by an increase in heart rate.”
To summarize these two studies, the consumption of tea will increase the burning
of calories and promote weight loss without increasing your heart rate.
This leaves open the possibility of using green tea as an alternative to stimulant-
based diet drugs found in the stores and advertised on TV, which may
cause adverse effects on obese individuals and patients with hypertension
(high blood pressure) and other cardiovascular conditions. Tea does not have
these same adverse side effects because it has the next two secret ingredients:
L-theanine and EGCG.
Secret Ingredient #2: L-Theanine
There is only one plant in the world (besides one obscure mushroom) that
contains secret ingredient #2, and that plant is—you guessed it—Camellia sinensis.
L-theanine (el-THEE-uh-neen) is a non-protein-based amino acid that
constitutes between 1 and 2 percent of the dry weight of tea leaves. Caffeine
makes up only about 0.5 percent. Caffeine is a stimulant. It revs up many of your body’s processes and sends your nervous system into a state of shock. After ingestion, it
is secreted into the bloodstream and makes its way to the brain where it stimulates
your beta brain waves .
Beta brain waves are meant to be stimulated for the fight-or-flight response:
when you are in danger, when you get into a car accident, when something
happens to a member of your family. That’s when your body needs to
get stimulated, and you actually want to get into a state of stress. You want to
be able to lift a car off your loved one, or run a 100-yard dash in ten seconds
to get away from a mugger in the night.
But most of the time, we are not in situations that produce such intense
states of excitement or stress, even though the caffeine rush is signaling so to
the brain. This is why the L-theanine in tea is so important, and what makes
Cami the most perfect plant. Several minutes after the caffeine has entered
your system, the L-theanine is secreted from the small intestine into the blood
system and into the brain where it stimulates alpha brain waves, which produce
a state of relaxed and effortless alertness, thus canceling out the harmful
effects of the caffeine. Since caffeine has already reached the brain and gotten
a bit of a head start, so to speak, you will still get that short wake-up blast you
want in the morning—but without the jitters and that come from
other caffeinated beverages like coffee, the energy drinks, and cola.
Now you begin to see the importance of Cami plant; caffeine is allowed into your
system for the weight-loss benefits and stimulation, then shortly thereafter,
L-theanine comes along to cancel out its harmful effects.
Because of L-theanine’s effect on alpha brain waves, it is a natural medicine
for the relief of stress, anxiety and tension. In fact, in 2004, researchers in
Australia compared L-theanine to alprazolam (Xanax), a medication often
prescribed to relieve anxiety. They found that L-theanine tended to reduce
anxiety during a relaxation phase of the study, while the drug had no such
effect. Researchers have also found that L-theanine appears to play a role in the
formation of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which blocks the release of
the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin to promote a state of calm
relaxation. But that’s not all. When stress levels decrease, so do levels of cortisol, a
hormone that, when stimulated, increases appetite and influences where
body fat will be stored (mainly in the abdominal region). In January 2007,
scientists from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the
University College of London published findings on tea’s effect on cortisol
levels. The study, in the journal Psychopharmacology, found that people who
drank tea were able to lower their stress levels faster than those who were
given a placebo. For six weeks, participants drank either four cups of black
tea a day, or four cups of a caffeinated placebo. After the six weeks, both
groups were given two challenging behavioral tasks. Both groups were found
to have similar stress levels when the tasks were completed; however, an hour
later the cortisol levels had dropped by an average of 47 percent in the teadrinking
group compared with 27 percent in the caffeinated placebo group.
So it seems that L-theanine not only reverses caffeine’s harmful effects but
assists to reduce stress, which in turn reduces appetite and the storage of fat
in your body.
Secret Ingredient #3: EGCG
Even if you’re not familiar with L-theanine, chances are you’ve heard of
EGCG. It stands for a chemical compound called Epigallocatechin-3-gallate,
and it’s been appearing on a lot of highly visible labels lately. Bottled teas are
now proudly announcing EGCG as an ingredient in their beverage (even
though it’s in all tea), and even the Coca-Cola company has jumped on the
bandwagon with Enviga, a sparkling green tea beverage that contains EGCG
and caffeine (and a host of artificial sweeteners and preservatives).
What is EGCG? It is a chemical compound known as a catechin, which is a
subclass of polyphenols, compounds known for their antioxidant properties.
Antioxidants are substances found in tea (and many other foods) that can prevent
or slow the oxidative damage to the cells of the body. When the cells use
oxygen, as they do all day, they naturally produce free radicals (by-products)
which can cause damage to the cells. Antioxidants act as “free-radical policemen”
and hence prevent and repair damage done by these free radicals. But
EGCG is more than a potent antioxidant. In combination with Tea3’s other
secret ingredients, it is a potent factor in stimulating weight loss. Studies have
shown that green tea extracts (containing EGCG) markedly inhibit enzymes
in the pancreas that help to digest fat in vitro (meaning “in a test tube”),
which may translate into reduced fat digestion in humans.
In a study appearing in 2005 in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, thirtyeight
Japanese men were each given a 340-milliliter bottle (roughly two cups)
of oolong tea to drink with dinner each day. Half of the men got tea laced
with about 22 milligrams of green tea catechins (mostly EGCG), and the rest
got tea spiked with 960 milligrams of catechins.
All of the participants were put on a calorie-counting diet. After twelve
weeks, both groups of men lost weight. Those drinking the low-catechins tea
lost approximately 3 pounds, while the high-catechins group lost an average of
more than 5 pounds. Most important, much of the weight loss in the second
group came from fat—total fat volume fell 10.3 percent in the high-catechins
group, while it fell only 2.6 percent in the others. Both groups found that they
had lost inches off their waistlines.
The Dynamic Duo: EGCG and Caffeine: We’ve already learned that the
caffeine in tea stimulates thermogenesis, the biochemical process by
which fat in the body is burned to produce energy. Studies have now
shown that there is a synergistic interaction between EGCG and caffeine
that further promotes energy expenditure. A 1999 study in which
a group of men were given 90 mg of EGCG three times daily concluded
that the men taking the EGCG burned 266 more calories than those
who were given placebos. The authors of the study concluded that
EGCG not only stimulated but prolonged fat tissue thermogenesis to
a much greater extent than just caffeine alone, and that tea’s “thermogenic
properties could reside primarily in an interaction between its
high content in catechin-polyphenols and caffeine . . .” This proves that
EGCG helps burn fat even if you’re doing nothing other than sitting
around drinking tea all day. So the more tea you drink the more fat you
burn. EGCG and Triglycerides: Triglycerides are a form of fat carried through
the bloodstream in transporters called lipoproteins. The problem is
that lipoproteins that have an abundance of triglycerides also have an
abundance of cholesterol, which, as we know, can lead to heart disease.
EGCG actually cleanses the blood of the additional triglycerides before
they’re deposited into the adipose (fat) tissue. In so doing, it’s also lowering
cholesterol levels. Now follow this closely because it is that important:
if in fact the triglycerides are being cleansed by EGCG, your
arteries and veins start to clear. If your arteries are clear, you’re getting
more oxygen into your blood, which gives you more energy, which in
turn allows you to expend more energy and burn more calories and lose
weight.
EGCG Reduces Insulin Production: In a study on insulin published in the
Journal of Biological Chemistry in April 2006, researchers found that
EGCG could modulate insulin secretion by inhibiting glutamate dehydrogenase
(GDH). GDH plays a dominant role in stimulating the secretion
of insulin. Scientists studied the effects of EGCG on GDH and
found that these compounds could inhibit GDH and therefore inhibit
insulin secretion, which is good for weight loss. Why are insulin levels so important for weight loss? Because insulin plays a major role in weight gain, and even keeps us from losing weight.
The more insulin produced, the harder it is to lose weight. We get most
of our energy from carbohydrates, which are digested and broken down
into glucose, or blood sugar. When blood sugar levels rise, insulin, produced
in the pancreas, begins to do its job, which is to escort blood sugar
into the liver and muscles where it’s turned into glycogen and waits to be
burned as energy. If there’s more blood sugar than there is cell storage
space, the excess is converted into fat.
If you are consistently subjecting your cells to carbohydrate overload
and your body is storing too much blood sugar as fat, the sensors that
are normally receptive to insulin begin to shut down. The body continues
to produce the insulin, but can no longer utilize it efficiently or effectively.
So you have insulin being produced with no use other than
telling your body to burn less fat and store more fat; this is commonly
referred to as insulin resistance.
That begins a vicious cycle: When you are overweight, fat cells inhibit
the release of glucose for energy because you have too much insulin.
Because glucose is not being used for energy, it is locked into its
storage space in the cell, and no more can get in. When more carbohydrates
are consumed, and more glucose and insulin are produced, there
is nowhere for them to go, so the glucose is turned into fat that in turn
inhibits the use of glucose . . . It becomes harder and harder to lose
weight because your body has become an automatic fat-producer. The
more tea you drink, the lower the insulin level in your body.
Tea’s EGCG enhances insulin’s effectiveness: In a study published in
2002 in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry, black, green, and
oolong teas (but not tisanes) were all shown to increase insulin activity
(effectiveness) by more than 15 percent in vitro (test tube). The higher
the insulin effectiveness (as caused by EGCG), the better your ability to
convert sugars into energy, and the greater your ability to lose weight.
The more tea you drink, the higher your insulin’s effectiveness.
This is good news for people with type 2 diabetes (if you have diabetes,
be sure to consult your physician before making any changes in your
diet). Diabetes means that you either are not producing enough insulin,
or that your cells are becoming insensitive to the insulin that is there.
Since drinking tea makes insulin more effective, it may be able to prevent
the disease, or at least to postpone its onset.
Put Them All Together . . .
In case you haven’t already gotten the point, here’s one more reason that the
Tea combination is so effective in aiding weight loss:
Tea increases fat burning: Another study, this one published in 2001 in
the American Society for Nutritional Sciences’ Journal of Nutrition, divided
participants into four groups who, over a three-day period, consumed
1) water, 2) full-strength tea, 3) half-strength tea, and 4) water
containing 270mg caffeine (equivalent to the concentration in the full strength
tea). Energy expenditure was significantly increased for both
the full-strength tea and the caffeinated water treatments. In addition,
fat oxidation (burning) was significantly higher (12 percent) when subjects
consumed the full-strength tea rather than water, which shows us
that caffeine alone is not as good as the Tea’s combination for losing
weight.
It would be possible for me to go on and on, listing study after study that
proves that drinking tea will help you lose weight, and you can find many of
them listed online. But it should be clear to you by now that there is solid scientific evidence to back up the claims of Tea’s weight-loss benefits. The beauty of this is that all you have
to do to obtain these wonderful benefits and start dropping pounds and
inches is to find the teas you love and start to drink them all day. Now doesn’t
that sound like something you can do? I know it does! It’s easy and it works!