Drinking Tea to Lose Weight – As countries around the world report increasing levels of obesity among their populations, weight loss is becoming a widespread goal for many. Unfortunately, losing weight is one of the hardest things a person can undertake in their lifetime: there have been many articles and papers published on the subject of why, exactly, it is so difficult to shed and keep off the pounds.
Although there is no guaranteed easy way to lose weight, there are a few key things you can do to help yourself along the way. The simplest of these? Drinking tea!
How drinking tea can help
This much-beloved beverage is more than a social ritual: there is good evidence to suggest that regularly consuming cups of tea can help maintain a healthy body weight. Most of the studies on this subject are done with green or black tea, which both contain caffeine. Since caffeine is a diuretic (it makes you pee), its weight loss benefits make sense. But herbal tea can also have a significant effect on your weight, so long as you drink it at the right times.
Chamomile tea, for example, has been associated with weight loss since it fights stress and helps you sleep, but mint is also a popular weight loss tea because it is good for settling stomachs and aiding digestion. Ginger tea is another digestive aid and is often recommended after a heavy meal to help keep things moving through your system!
The right type of tea
Of course, there are some drawbacks to having a tea habit. In cold climates, many people like to drink their tea with lots of milk and sugar (called Builder’s Tea in the UK), which obviously won’t stop you from packing on the pounds. The solution to this problem is to drink herbal or green tea rather than the traditional black tea so that you won’t crave that milky sweet kick. Biscuits, too, can be a staple of teatime: again, drinking green and herbal teas help curb this little habit.
On the other hand, in hot climates, it can be annoying to sip on a steaming cup of tea; no one wants to stand over a steaming kettle in the sunshine. Plus, if you don’t spend your day near a kitchen, getting your hands on a cup of tea can be quite tricky. Fortunately, there is one solution to both those roadblocks: iced tea! Cooper’s Teas—coopertea.com—offer chilled teas that come in a bottle and will do the weight loss trick without the hot temperature.
Why it works
Besides the medicinal properties of tea as a substance, there are plenty of psychological effects to making tea drinking a ritual that will benefit your weight loss journey. Research has suggested that drinking water before a meal makes you less likely to overeat; since tea is flavored water, it has the same effect. Similarly, starting your day with a cup of herbal tea can make you less likely to crave a big breakfast. Once you’ve conquered that early morning hunger, it’s that much easier to avoid snacking throughout the day.
