Losing weight does not always need to be hard. If you love drinking tea, there are now new herbal and diet teas that can help you lose weight with some enjoyment.

Diet teas, also known as weight loss or slimming teas, have actually been around for longer than thought; in fact, most of today’s diet teas have a history that goes back centuries. From green tea, black tea and peppermint tea to ginger, liquorice and oolong tea, it can be confusing to know which teas will help you lose weight.

What are diet teas?

Tea originated in China and was recorded as a medicinal beverage, using cured leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant, in the 3^rd century AD. Over the centuries, tea was transported worldwide by merchants, becoming a firm afternoon drink by the 19^th century.

The most well-known is black tea, but there is also white, green and oolong team that is derived from the Camellia plant. It just depends on how it is grown and where it is harvested, as well as processed, that gives the tea its label. As well as containing caffeine (herbal teas aren’t caffeinated), they also include different polyphenols which give the teas there different flavours and health benefits.

However, unlike these teas, herbal teas don’t come from the Camellia plant and are naturally decaffeinated. They are derived from a variety of other natural sources – herbs, seeds, spices, roots, flowers, fruit and the leaves from other plants. It’s these ingredients that provide different health benefits.

Are diet teas the same as detox or herbal teas?

There’s a misconception that diet teas are different from detox or herbal teas. In reality, they are all similar in that they help with weight loss and boost health due to flavonoids being present. Flavonoids are believed to help reduce inflammation, as well as supporting the prevention of other conditions like diabetes and heart disease. But they also have differing roles.

Diet teas are usually infused with a variety of herbs and are designed to help with weight loss, such as helping to burn fat cells and stop new cells by reducing fat absorption, suppress your appetite and help with digestion.

Detox teas are slightly different in that they help you lose excess ‘water weight’. Water retention can be a problem when overweight and using a detox tea, which has a laxative effect, can help reduce this. These types of teas will help to cleanse your inner system of toxins. However, they don’t really help towards slimming.

Herbal teas, like other teas, have also been around for a long time and have become popular for their flavour, as well as their properties that can help boost emotional and physical health.

How do diet teas work?

Many of these teas can help with slimming but we must advise that diet teas can only help as part of a healthy eating programme and exercise. They aren’t a miracle cure but they can help in reducing cravings and inflammation, stimulating the fat burning process, boosting your metabolism and detoxing the body; that is flushing out the toxins and pollutants that accumulate.

That said, there has been research which strongly suggests that drinking some types of teas can help towards weight loss, particularly when combined with exercise. One of the reasons for this is down to catechins, which are a type of flavonoid. They work by breaking down the fats in your body more quickly and boosting your metabolism.

Which type of diet tea you choose really depends on what your weight loss goals are. If you suffer from water retention, a tea that has a diuretic effect may be of more use but don’t forget to stay hydrated. For increasing your metabolism, choose a tea that’s designed to help this and promote energy levels. Alternatively, if you have a habit of snacking or eating too much at mealtimes, a tea that suppresses your appetite would be more applicable.

Let’s look at some of the teas that can help with weight loss.

• Green tea – the popularity of green tea in recent years principally because it can help with weight loss. Indeed, some studies support this having found that over a 12 week period of time, consuming green tea extract helped to reduce body fat and waist circumference.
• Oolong tea – perhaps not quite so well-known is oolong tea which is believed to boost how fat is broken down in the body, and therefore reduce body weight.
• Ginger tea – ginger is a good root source for boosting immune systems and from a diet point of view, ginger tea can suppress appetites and stimulate the metabolism.
• Rooibos tea – if you’re looking for something that will satisfy a sweet tooth, rooibos tea is a good option. An added bonus is that it can help with lowering the level of stress hormones, thereby allowing the body to burn fat more efficiently.
• Mint tea – mint has been known to provide relief for stomach problems but it can also boost your metabolism and suppress appetites. There are a wide variety of mint teas to try.
• Detox teas – most detox teas will contain a variety of herbs, spices, seeds and Senna leaf, which is a known diuretic. Together, they not only detox the body, they can help to stimulate weight loss.
• Diet teas – specific diet teas will contain Senna leaf which detox’s the body and therefore supports weight loss. However, the one thing to remember with detox and diet teas that contain Senna must be used with caution so, always follow the instructions and do not use long-term.

What are the benefits of drinking tea?

Slimming or diet teas can help with weight loss through cleansing the body of toxins, as well as:

• Aiding digestion.
• Boosting metabolism.
• Suppressing appetites.
• Supports immune systems.
• Reducing water retention.
• Breaking down fat cells.
• Boost energy to help burn calories.

More and more research is being conducted about the use of detox, diet and slimming teas and their contribution to losing weight. However, we have to remember that not only are they not the complete answer to weight loss, some diet teas should not be consumed more than once a day due to some of the ingredients. Some diet teas can also mean that there is a need to drink plenty of water to remain hydrated.

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