Lose belly fat naturally by consuming one of these herbal teas for weight loss
Many people need to lose weight due to health reasons or they want to look better. There are so many supplements and diets in the market that you don’t know where to start. But be sure that natural weight loss is the best thing that you can choose. Why don’t you start with herbal teas for weight loss?
Maybe drinking tea is not so common in the U.S. but in the U.K. and Southeast Asia, it is like tradition. Drinking tea is not just for weight loss it is also healthy. But what are the best herbal teas for weight loss?
We prepared for you a list of those teas and by reading this article you will find out:
- How herbal teas for weight loss work
- Best herbal teas for weight loss
- Green Tea
- Peppermint Tea
- Oolong Tea
- Pu-Erh Tea
- Rooibos Tea
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How Herbal Tea for Losing Weight Works
There are many varieties of teas for weight loss to choose from, but all of them act as:
- appetite suppressors
- fat blockers
- metabolism boosters
The theory behind weight loss with slimming teas is that they: help to burn more calories, help the body to release toxins, and suppress appetite.
Most of the ingredients are good for your health but some of them may cause severe side effects in certain people. Some of those ingredients are:
- Laxatives
- Diuretics
- Metabolism-Boosting Ingredients
- Appetite Suppressants
Laxatives
Some slimming teas contain natural laxatives, senna. Senna is a natural laxative made from the fruit and leaves of the senna plant. It is often used to treat constipation. So it is no coincidence if you spend more time in a bathroom after drinking tea formulas that contain laxatives.
Be careful when using slimming teas that contain senna, because it is an ineffective way to lose weight. By the time the laxative is active most of the food will be digested and the calories absorbed.
If you aren’t careful with this kind of tea it can lead to dehydration and loosing of electrolytes and minerals that are vital for your health.
Diuretics
Many of the slimming teas contain diuretics that can cause dehydration, loosing of electrolytes, muscle cramps, and diarrhea. Most of the diuretics found in over-the-counter weight loss products and herbal slimming teas come from xanthine alkaloids (caffeine and theobromine).
According to a study published in June 2013 out of 26 weight loss and antidepressant products, 8 of them contained diuretics. Some weren’t declared on the label.
Metabolism – Boosting Ingredients
Green tea, caffeine, and capsaicin have metabolism-boosting properties. But they don’t have a drastic impact on weight loss, because calorie burn is short after consuming them.
Appetite Suppressants
Some ingredients in herbal teas for weight loss like guarana, caffeine, and bitter orange can help to suppress the appetite. You might eat less and lose some weight but the presence of guarana (central nervous system stimulant) and caffeine can disrupt your sleeping patterns and make you jittery.
According to the Cleveland Clinic side effects from guarana may cause nausea, dizziness, and anxiety.
Some of these ingredients, like St.John’s Wort, can encourage your body to produce serotonin, which helps to make you feel full. In some people, St.John’s Wort can be the cause of anxiety, dizziness, and nausea.
So be careful what herbal teas you take for weight loss because some of them can help you to burn fat but can have a negative effect on your overall health.
Best Herbal Teas for Weight Loss
Green Tea
Every list of weight loss products must contain green tea on it. Why? Because green tea contains powerful compounds called flavonoids and catechins (epigallocatechin gallate EGCG). These compounds help to boost energy levels, reduce fat storage, and increase metabolic rate.
Learn more: What Is Green Tea Good For – Less Caffeine, More Energy
Chinese and Japanese are the biggest consumers of green tea. In a Chinese study about obesity where participants drank tea that was rich with catechins twice a day, after 90 days they saw a decrease in belly fat, losing 1.9 cm in waist circumference and 2.6 pounds of body weight.
To boost your metabolism drink green tea before or after a meal. In research about the connection between green tea and exercise for weight loss, it was found that participants who drank 4-5 cups of green tea daily combined with 25 minutes of workout lost 2 more pounds than the non-exercise participants. Combining green tea and workouts for weight loss is the best way to burn fat.
You can drink a cup of green tea before going to the gym or you can make an ice tea or cold green lemon tea for cooling off in the summer after exercise.
Interesting To Read: Black Tea vs. Green Tea: Which Is Better For Weight Loss?
Peppermint Tea
Peppermint tea contains compounds like menthol, hesperidin, luteolin, and the strong aroma of this tea can help to suppress appetite. Aromatherapists believe that the scent of peppermint triggers chemical reactions in the brain that reduces the hunger feeling.
A study published from the Journal of Neurological and Orthopaedic Medicine was conducted on 3193 overweighted volunteers, each of them was given inhalers containing blends of aromatic ingredients and instructed to inhale three times in every nostril when hungry.
The results showed that people who inhaled mint essential oil every two hours lost 5 pounds per month.
Mint tea is also low in caffeine only 25% of the regular cup of coffee, so it is good to drink even at night. Low caffeine content, soothing and calming effects on the system are great to reduce stress and keep you calm.
Stress is maybe the number one cause for bad metabolism and weight gain. So this tea will help you to calm down and also use the mint aroma to suppress appetite.
Oolong Tea
This tea is also derived from Camellia sinensis like green tea. The difference between these two herbal teas for weight loss is that oolong tea after being plucked is dried under the strong sun.
It is partially oxidized before being twisted or curled. The main difference is the partial oxidation that helps oolong tea to restore most of the antioxidants and lipid-lowering properties.
Oolong tea also called ‘black dragon tea‘ is full of catechins like green tea, and these compounds help to metabolize fat resulting in high levels of energy and faster fat loss.
Japanese researchers found that Oolong tea also contains high levels of antioxidants called polymerized polyphenols. They have the power to inhibit the body’s ability to absorb fat by 20%. Oolong tea boosts the metabolism by 10% and helps to burn tummy and upper arm fat.
Oolong tea is a calorie-free beverage and has different flavors. You don’t need to care about calorie intake when you drink this tea.
How To Prepare Oolong Tea For Weight Loss?
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon Oolong tea leaves
- 1 cup of water
Preparation:
- Boil the water
- Remove from the flame as soon as it boils
- Add Oolong tea leaves and a put lid on
- Let it rest for 5 min.
- Strain the tea into a cup before drinking
You can consume Oolong tea for weight loss in the morning with breakfast or 30 minutes before dinner or lunch.
Further reading: The Benefits Of Oolong Tea For Weight Loss and How To Prepare It At Home
Pu-Erh Tea
Pu-Erh Tea is a black tea that comes from China. The real Pu-Erh tea is aged tea. It means that the tea is aged naturally for more than 50 years and it’s called raw Pu-Erh tea. If the aging process is done artificially by promoting the growth of healthy microbes that ferment the tea is called ripe Pu-Erh tea.
Drinking Pu-erh tea at the correct time of the day will help you to lose weight by helping your body to metabolize fat. The best time to drink Pu-Erh Tea is one hour after a meal so the tea can remove excess grease and help your body to eliminate hard-to-digest fats.
But be careful there is an opposite effect if you drink this tea an hour before a meal and you will gain weight instead of losing. The reason for this is that when you drink before a meal it clears up all fat residues in the stomach so you will feel more hungry and your appetite will rise which means eating more.
How To Brew Pu-Erh Tea for Weight Loss
Using Ripe cakes :
- Bring fresh, filtered water to a boil.
- Place your leaves in the teapot and pour 8-10 ounces of water directly over the leaves.
- Allow the leaves to steep for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, place a basket strainer over your cup and pour the tea so that any leaves will be caught by the strainer.
- Serve the contents of the teapot and enjoy it. Note: do not allow the tea leaves in your teapot to continue to steep.
If you want to see the other methods for brewing Pu-Erh Tea visit Smithtea.com
Read More: Pu-erh Tea Benefits, Potential Side Effects, How to Brew And More
Rooibos Tea
Rooibos tea is a herb cultivated in South Africa that can be brewed in a delicious caffeine-free cup of tea. Rooibos tea is naturally sweet so you don’t need to add sugar or any other sweeteners. It contains only 2-5 calories per cup, compared to a cup of coffee with 35+ calories.
Rooibos tea contains a natural antioxidant called, aspalathin. Aspalathin helps to reduce stress hormones in the body that are responsible for increased hunger and fat storage. This is why drinking this tea helps to stop hunger and feel full longer.
An increased state of oxidative stress (imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body, which can lead to cell and tissue damage) can lead to fat accumulation, especially in the belly region. Rooibos tea helps to reduce oxidative stress and that helps with weight loss.
Rooibos Tea and Lemon for Weight Loss – Recipe *
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon of rooibos tea leaves
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1 cup of water
How To Prepare
- Bring a cup of water to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool down for a minute.
- Add the rooibos tea leaves and steep for 3 minutes.
- Strain the tea into a cup.
- Add the lemon juice and stir well. Your tea is ready!
To get the benefits from rooibos tea drink it for at least 20 min. before the meal. You will feel less hungry and you won’t consume too many calories. Scientist says that drinking rooibos tea is good for weight loss but also have other health benefits.
Final thoughts about herbal teas for natural fat burning
These are maybe the best herbal teas for weight loss. There are many others, but there is one thing that you should remember. You can just lose weight by drinking tea and doing nothing, just wait for the te to do its job.
It is not going to happen. To lose weight you must change your lifestyle, the way you eat, diet, exercise. Weight loss is a combination of many things to get to the result.
Don’t rely just on these teas, let them just help you to lose some fat but commit to other things like better diet, workout, less sitting, and eating.