Does Weight Loss Tea Really Work?

Weight Loss Tea : Does it work and is it bad for you?

Slimming teas are often advertised as a way to lose weight and cleanse the body. The theory is that the tea stimulates digestion, aids metabolism, and, in some cases, rids the body of impurities.

Weight loss teas claim to suppress appetite, increase fat burning and boost metabolism.

But do they work? This article takes a sales-free look at the scientific evidence.

Weight loss teas are  a blend of tea and herbs, depending on the brand. They're said to help with weight loss by enhancing fat burning, increasing metabolism and suppressing appetite.

Many Tea are also marketed as fit teas  and detox teas, with claims they increase energy and cleanse the body of toxins.

Most of these teas come with a recommended exercise and eating plan to be followed in addition to drinking the tea every day or two. They are generally expensive and heavily marketed on social media.

Weight loss teas promise to boost your metabolism, burn away stomach fat, and teatox your body. What tea marketers don't tell you is that drinking these brews might also be associated with more missed periods, unplanned pregnancies, and permanent gut damage.

Social media influencers can make thousands of dollars promoting these teas as fundamental weight loss strategies. But YouTube and Instagram stars are not required to vet, understand, or even actually drink the things that they post about. It turns out the heart-healthy teas that you might actually want to drink, which are scientifically-linked with good health outcomes, are both cheaper than a "teatox" detox tea and much safer for your body in the long run.

Green Tea

Green tea usually isn’t fermented. The leaves are simply steamed and then crushed by hand.

It’s especially high in the most potent type of catechin, called EGCG. People who took an EGCG-rich green tea extract or drank catechin-enhanced green tea lost a modest amount of weight. Maybe about 3 pounds over 3 months. To get the same amount of EGCG used in the research, you'd need to drink about 6 to 7 cups of your typical green tea every day. Green tea extraxts can be risky. Though rare, high-dose tea extracts found in some weight-loss supplements have been linked to serious liver damage.

Black Tea

This is the type of tea that's often served in Chinese restaurants and used to make iced tea. It’s fermented , a process that allows it to change chemically and often increases its caffeine content. The tea has a strong, rich flavor. Whether it helps with weight loss isn't certain. But research done on rats suggests substances called polyphenols in black tea might help block fat from being absorbed in the intestines. Watch what you pour into your tea, though. Drinking black tea the English way -- with milk -- might curb its fat-blocking abilities.

Weight loss claims about tea are dubious, and too much tea can be bad for your kidneys

Weight loss claims about teas are more contentious. Many of the studies that people use to bolster diet tea claims have been done in mice, not people.

Some scientists are intrigued by appetite-regulating chemicals called catechins that are especially common in green and oolong tea varieties.

There is evidence that for some people, drinking catechin-rich green tea can help burn more fat. But experts treat these findings with caution, as the studies tend to be small, the effects minimal, and the results not entirely conclusive. (Some research, for example, has only been performed on small groups of men, while other results find ethnic differences to the benefits of tea-drinking.)

Another issue with bigger, population-based studies is that tea-drinkers tend to have healthier lifestyles overall, making it difficult to tease out how many of the observed health benefits researchers see in them are really from the tea they drink.

It is also possible to drink too much tea, no matter what kind. The plant chemical oxilate, abundant in tea, can prompt kidney trouble, if you consume glasses upon glasses.

Diuretics and Laxatives in Weight Loss Tea

Many weight loss teas contain laxatives, caffeine or diuretics. These ingredients can lead to short-term loss of water weight, giving you the illusion of having lost weight or feeling slimmer.

A drop in water weight is a drop in the amount of water stored in the body. This type of weight loss is not from a reduction of fat stores and is not a sustainable method of weight loss.

As soon as you stop using the tea or hydrate properly, you will regain the water weight.

Losing water weight can also lead to dehydration. It is not a healthy or safe practice and can lead to serious health problems.vFor weight loss to be sustainable you need to decrease the amount of fat stored in the body.

Laxatives

Many weight loss teas contain a natural laxative called senna. Laxatives make you move your bowels more frequently, and in some cases senna can cause stomach cramps, pain and diarrhea.

Long-term use of laxatives is not only unpleasant, it can become dangerous.

Continual use can cause your body to become dependent on the laxative, which is especially problematic when you stop taking them. Dehydration and severe electrolyte imbalance can also occur. Also be mindful that psyllium husk, a type of fiber supplement, can have a laxative effect. It’s commonly used as an ingredient in weight loss teas.

Diuretics

Diuretics make you urinate, because they stimulate the body to excrete increased water and sodium.

This may be useful if your body is holding on to excess fluid. They are not useful for long-term weight loss and can cause dehydration. Natural diuretics found in weight loss teas include:

Dandelion

Parsley

Hibiscus

Hawthorn

Juniper

Nettle

Caffeine.

Tea leaves naturally contain caffeine, albeit in small amounts.

Effectiveness

There is very little evidence that slimming tea is effective.

Class action lawsuits have been filed against companies who sold their teas as weight loss supplements. At least 2 lawsuits involved companies whose advertising made false claims about the effectiveness of their tea in aiding weight loss.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do not recognize any slimming tea as being effective.

Some ingredients, such as caffeine and senna, are recognized by the FDA for different reasons.

Caffeine is recognized as a stimulant with no major effect on weight loss. Similarly, senna is recognized as an ingredient that causes large intestine irritation and can be used as a mild laxative.

Most positive reviews of slimming tea can be found either on sites that sell the product or that promote a naturalist lifestyle. Some point to small studies that have been conducted.

However, there is a substantial lack of evidence to support the claims that slimming tea affects weight loss.

Recent research confirms the various health benefits of black or green teas. Slimming tea, however, should be used with caution.

It is a good idea to consult a doctor or other healthcare provider with no ties to selling slimming tea before using any product.

A person should also do as much research as possible to find out about success rates, complaints, and potential side effects of the product they are considering.