Tea to lose weight: The six best types of tea for your diet lose weight
You may have noticed advertisements for unique weight loss teas online or in magazines. The advertising promises often sound great because just by drinking the tea, excess kilos are said to tumble in no time at all.
You must have already guessed that this is unfortunately not true. Tea is not a magic bullet for weight loss.
But now the good news: Certain types of tea can support your diet very well. But you don’t have to use any unique products, and there are also well-known and cheap types of tea for losing weight.
This article will find out why losing weight with tea can work better and which tea is particularly suitable for losing weight.
Why tea can help you lose weight
Tea can help you lose weight for a variety of reasons.
1.) Tea contributes to sufficient fluid intake
Your body is almost 70 percent water, so drinking enough fluids is extremely important for your health.
You probably know that not drinking enough can lead to headaches and dizziness. This is how your body shows you that it urgently needs liquid.
You can only stay fit and motivated for your weight loss with adequate hydration throughout the day. Plus, there’s another reason that remaining hydrated leads to faster weight loss.
If you drink enough, you will also be less hungry, and it will be easier for you to save calories. ( 1 ) Of course, only calorie-free drinks such as water or unsweetened tea are suitable for losing weight. You should avoid honey or milk in the tea. Use zero-calorie sugar substitutes instead.
2.) Some types of tea influence the metabolism
It’s true: some types of tea stimulate fat burning and can therefore help you lose weight. Green tea, in particular, stands out, and it has already been examined in more detail in some studies.
For example, one study found that green tea can accelerate fat loss. ( 2 ) More specifically, 180 slightly overweight people were studied to see if green tea catechins help with body fat loss.
After 90 days, it turned out that those participants who consumed the most catechins lost more weight on average. What was particularly surprising was that they could shed more belly fat.
However, it must be said that there are also studies in which little or no effect could be proven. But as you can see, it’s entirely possible that green tea can help you lose weight.
1) Green tea for weight loss
When we come to the best teas for weight loss, it is almost transparent that green tea comes first, and its effect on metabolism has already been discussed.
But that’s not the only reason you should drink it while losing weight. It is also extremely rich in secondary plant substances that can positively affect your health. ( 3 )
The catechins mentioned above deserve special mention. These bitter substances have an antioxidant effect and thus protect your cells from free radicals. ( 3 )
Green tea is also said to have anti-carcinogenic, antibacterial, and antiviral effects. ( 4, 5, 6 )
If you don’t like coffee, you can also use green tea as a natural pick-me-up. It contains significant amounts of caffeine, and at the same time, the amino acid L-theanine it has makes you feel much more pleasant and longer-lasting.
The over-excited feeling that some get from strong coffee is absent with regular doses. Also, the tea doesn’t cause stomach pains as some people get from the acid in coffee.
This is the best way to prepare green tea:
When preparing green tea, you should keep a few things in mind so that it does not taste bitter.
Green tea is not prepared with boiling water. The ideal temperature is around 80 degrees. So let the boiling water cool down a bit before you prepare the tea with it.
Green tea tastes better if you prepare it with water as soft as possible. For example, if you have hard water in your home, you could use a water filter.
Don’t let the green tea steep for too long, and even then, it will become bitter. Depending on your taste and the type of tea, you should let the tea steep for around 2-3 minutes. There is usually a brewing time on the packaging that you can use as a guide.
By the way, green tea tastes great with a bit of lemon juice.
2) Lose weight with white tea
Have they ever heard of white tea? Ultimately, it is made from the same tea plant as green tea, and the main difference is that the buds are used instead of the leaves. In addition, white tea is processed even less.
Due to the gentle treatment of the tea, a large proportion of the ingredients are retained. It contains even more antioxidants than green tea.
White tea has almost the same effects as green tea due to the similar ingredients. Therefore, it can stimulate fat burning and is consequently well suited for losing weight. ( 7 )
Unfortunately, white tea has one major drawback: it is costly. Due to the complex production, the price is undoubtedly justified, but it is still a relatively expensive pleasure. Of course, the prices always vary depending on the quality and origin of the tea, and however, you can expect at least five to twenty euros per 100 grams.
Danger! If you want high-quality white tea, make sure that the tea only consists of buds. Cheap tea is often stretched with leaves.
How to prepare white tea:
When preparing white tea, you should also make sure that the water cools down to 80 degrees before pouring it over the buds. Otherwise, the valuable substances in the tea are partially destroyed. Then let the tea steep for two to five minutes.
3) Black tea for weight loss
This type of tea is also obtained from the tea plant. However, black tea is roasted, which leads to oxidation, which causes the leaves to turn brown. Overall, this results in the dark color of the black tea and its unique taste.
Unfortunately, some valuable substances are also lost during roasting. So black tea doesn’t have as many antioxidants as green or white tea. However, it can still have a positive effect on weight loss. Some studies show a faster fat loss from consuming black tea. ( 8 ) However, the study situation is currently not meaningful.
There are many different blends of black tea, and the best known are English Breakfast, Earl Gray, and Darjeeling. Black tea is popular in England and our country and is often drunk with milk and sugar. When losing weight, you should avoid adding more calories.
Try our iced tea recipes without sugar if you don’t like pure black tea. They taste great, and it is a change from regular tea.
4) Ginger tea for weight loss
Ginger tea is also great for losing weight. However, this is not why ginger stimulates fat burning, as previously assumed; this claim could not be proven in studies.
A scientific study found out that the consumption of ginger reduces the feeling of hunger. ( 9 ) This makes it a good tool for anyone struggling with food cravings.
But ginger suppresses your feeling of hunger, and it also has numerous positive effects on your health. For example, the gingerol it contains has an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect. ( 10 ) Ginger also contains substances that may reduce the risk of developing diseases. ( 11 )
Another benefit of ginger is that it has antibacterial and antiviral properties. ( 12, 13 )
Be sure to read our article on all the effects of ginger to learn more about this superfood.
4 habits that slow down your metabolism when you lose weight
How to prepare ginger tea:
It is best to use whole ginger with the peel for your ginger tea, where most of the nutrients are found. If you peel it, you also remove part of the valuable substances.
If your ginger root is a bit older, you should still peel it. Otherwise, it may not taste delightful.
For a teapot, you need a thumb-sized piece of ginger root, and it is best to cut it into wafer-thin slices. The thinner the portions, the more flavor, and ingredients will get into your tea.
Pour boiling water over the slices and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. The longer you let the tea steep, the more intense and sharper it tastes.
If you want, you can add some lemon juice for flavor.
5) Oolong tea for weight loss
Oolong tea is an intermediate stage between green and black tea. So it’s slightly more oxidized than green tea but less than black tea.
It can have different oxidation states, which affects the taste and the ingredients. Shorter fermented oolong tea is closer to green tea and therefore contains more healthy substances.
Oolong tea also seems to stimulate fat burning, similar to green tea. How strong the effect is always depends on how the tea is processed.
The effect of oolong tea on weight loss has been examined in a few studies. For example, this study showed that people lost more weight in 6 weeks when they drank oolong tea. ( 14 )
Another study investigated whether oolong tea can boost metabolism. It was found that the energy expenditure from the tea was around 3 percent higher. ( 15 )
In one day, that might not make much of a difference. But over a more extended period, this is beneficial.
The studies just presented were conducted with a small number of participants. To get more precise evidence about the effect of oolong tea, further investigations are necessary.
In summary, however, it can be said that oolong tea could positively affect weight loss.
6) Mate tea for weight loss
Mate tea comes from South America and provides various effective ingredients.
It contains a lot of antioxidants that can fight free radicals. Mate tea has more antioxidants than green tea. ( 16 )
Studies have also shown that mate tea can lower LDL cholesterol levels. ( 17 ) It also contains saponins, which have an anti-inflammatory effect. ( 18 )
There are already some studies that have dealt with the effect of mate tea on fat loss.
A Korean study, for example, showed that consuming 3 grams of mate tea daily resulted in a weight loss of around 0.7 kilograms in 12 weeks. ( 19 ) Since the hip and abdominal circumferences of the test subjects were also measured, it was found that abdominal fat, in particular, was reduced.
However, it must also be said here that the groups of test subjects were relatively small, and further results are still needed.
How to prepare mate tea:
Mate tea is straightforward to make. Use a heaping teaspoon of tea per cup. Pour hot, no longer boiling water over this, and let the whole thing steep for 3 to 5 minutes.
The first infusion can be a bit bitter. If you don’t like it that much, you can throw it away and use the leaves again. You can infuse this type of tea up to three times in total.
The traditional preparation of mate tea is a lot more complex and a kind of ceremony. However, it can confidently be the preparation described above for everyday use.
Conclusion
Tea can be used very well for losing weight, mainly because it helps ensure that you drink enough.
There are also substances in tea that will speed up your weight loss. However, you should not expect too much of an effect from this.
Tea is not a miracle cure. A calorie deficit, achieved through a calorie-reduced, balanced diet and sufficient exercise, is still the most important thing to losing weight successfully.
Do you enjoy drinking any of the above teas? And do you feel like she is helping you lose weight? Please write us your experiences and questions now in the comments!
Kind regards and see you soon, Nazmul.