Can tea help you lose weight?

By Trish Harris

May 15th, 2008
Posted in Health, Weight Loss

You may be wondering why I decided to start my new blog with an article about how you can drink tea and lose weight.
Well, I suppose I could have started anywhere, and it was tempting to write an introductory article explaining how my life came to be totally taken over by tea (and by All About Tea). But then I thought, let’s just get on with it. And the one question that comes up more often than any other is “Which teas should I be drinking to help me lose weight?” So here we are.

The funny thing is that in a way it doesn’t matter. A few years ago, scientists began studying green teas and their effect on weight loss. And they came up with some pretty striking results. In short – yes, drinking green tea helps you lose weight.

But it’s not quite that simple. This does NOT mean that black tea and oolong tea are not also beneficial. It just means that they were not part of the study.

More recently, a number of studies have looked at these other tea types. And the results are coming in thick and fast. It seems – as many of us suspected – that pretty much any tea will help you lose weight. There are some differences in the exact nutritional content of these teas, but not many.

So my advice remains what it has always been – try a number of teas and see what you like best. Your body will tell you which tea is best for you. Listen to what it is saying, then buy the teas which are good for you – AND that you enjoy drinking.

There is not actually a rule that says that stuff that’s good for you can’t taste delicious. And in tea we are blessed with the best of both worlds. Drink tea, lose weight – and enjoy a wonderful, delicious, natural product at the same time.

I would like to add one point however. There is one herb that out-performs all other herbs and all teas in weight loss, and that is Yerba Mate. This South American plant, which tastes a bit like green tea, is pleasant, refreshing and extremely good for you.

So there you have it. Drink tea, drink Yerba Mate. Drink whichever ones you like best (after all, you’ve got to enjoy it or you won’t stick to it). And you can see a beautiful, healthy, trim new you emerging in the weeks ahead!

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Contact Trish Harris at trish@allabouttea.co.uk

Read other articles by Trish Harris