If drinking liquid is one of the fastest methods for delivering a lot of nutrients to your system then it’s probably important to pay attention to what you drink!
Apparently a couple of cups of tea a day (and good quality coffee – but that’s another article that you can read here!) can help you to lose weight and/or burn body fat – especially if combined with exercise!
Tea is just an ordinary, regular cup of Joe, right? Wrong – there’s green tea, white tea or black tea – and by black tea – I don’t mean just tea without milk.
Green Tea
The benefits of green tea seem to border on the miraculous. Although utilised for thousands of years in other parts of the world, it only hit the western scene a couple of decades ago.
Green tea is made by infusing green tea leaves in hot water. This type of tea is more similar to white tea than black tea. The tea leaves are harvested and sundried for up to 18 hours. The leaves then undergo an additional drying process, which allows the leaves to develop more grassy flavors.
The caffeine found in green tea works in similar ways to coffee with a slight twist. But it’s not just the caffeine that supports your metabolism. Antioxidants in green tea, called catechins, are able to increase the rate at which body fat gets burned for fuel.
A study published in the Journal of Health Sciences did an 8-week test study. Participants were split into two groups: one group received a beverage with the tea catechins and other group received a control beverage without them. Both groups were instructed to do 30 minutes of cardio, 3 times a week (sound familiar?)
The participants with the tea catechins lost significantly more fat during exercise – and during sedentary time when they were not working out!
SO, whether you’re exercising or not, sipping some green tea helps to stimulate fat burning, however…
There’s a difference between mobilising the fatty acids and them actually getting burned for fuel. Green tea catechins help both take place – but exercising maximises the benefits and helps to ensure that mobilised fat actually gets burned and not reabsorbed somewhere down the line.
Another study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that study participants who had a green tea extract before exercise burned 17% more fat than those who didn’t! They also found a greater improvement in insulin sensitivity – great news for anyone trying to avoid diabetes.
With this in mind, a study published in Physiology & Behaviour sought to find what effect green tea would have on obese volunteers. After a 12-week study, those who had green tea each day lost an average of 7.3 more pounds and burned 183 more calories per day that those who didn’t.
Good for the Brain
Apparently, the caffeine contained in green tea has also been found to improve mental focus, reaction time, attentiveness and creativity and reduce mental fatigue.
Even folks who are sensitive to caffeine find that green tea works with their system thanks to the balancing effect of a unique amino acid called L-theanine. It does wonders in your brain, as it is one of the rare nutrients that can gracefully waltz its way across the blood-brain-barrier and is able to increase the activity of a neurotransmitter which helps reduce anxiety and makes you feel more centred and relaxed.
2-4 cups per day seems to be the sweet spot.
Black Tea – Reduce your weight, your waist and your stress
Black tea, white tea and green tea actually all come from the same camellia sinensis plant. To make black tea the leaves are first rolled and then exposed to air to trigger the oxidation process. This reaction allows the flavours to heighten and intensify and changes the micronutrient profile as well. Green tea is not oxidised.
Black tea has a higher concentration of theaflavins which have some phenomenal benefits to metabolism. These theaflavins have the ability to shift human gene expression to a profile that favours burning fat for fuel!
In a 3-month study, participants drinking 3 cups of black tea a day lost significantly more weight and had a greater reduction in waist circumference.
In another 6-week study, participants drinking 4 cups of black tea per day were found to have 20% lower blood levels of cortisol, which means that black tea actually reduces stress levels, even although it contains caffeine.
White Tea
White teas are made using only the youngest tea buds and tea leaves of the tea plant, which undergo minimal processing. White tea leaves are harvested and dried using direct sunlight in a process called withering. Once the moisture is removed from the leaves, the tea is packaged and prepared for sale. White tea is the least processed true tea, offering a delicate and nuanced flavour profile.
SO, whether it’s black, green, or something in between, incorporating a couple of cups of tea into your daily regime can definitely be supportive of metabolism, help to reduce stress and anxiety and improve your brain function! Pinkies up, Ladies!
