Both green tea and white tea may help you shave off weight. There's more research to support that theory on green tea than on white tea. And researchers show little to no evidence of ill effects. To the contrary, there is a growing body of evidence that both may be helpful to the heart and in preventing certain cancers.
What's the Difference Between Teas?
Black tea, oolong tea, green tea and white tea all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, harvested and processed differently.
White tea comes from the buds and young leaves and undergoes less processing. More mature leaves are harvested for green tea. Black and oolong tea are allowed to mature more before harvest.
Green Tea Research is Promising
At the heart of the research for both green tea and white tea are their effects on human metabolism, since metabolism burns calories and sheds weight.
The Journal of the American College of Nutrition reports that green tea was found to be helpful for weight loss in a 2009 study at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The subjects were obese and had compromised metabolisms. For eight weeks, those subjects in three research groups took daily intakes of one of the following: four cups of water, four cups of green tea or two green tea extract capsules with four cups of water.
The green tea and green tea extract groups lost weight, "...suggesting the role of green tea flavonoids in improving features of metabolic syndrome in obese patients," the journal reports.
2009 White Tea Research is Groundbreaking
"We've shown that white tea may be an ideal natural source of slimming substances," Marc Winnefeld said to "Science Daily." He led a team of researchers from Beiersdorf AG, Germany, who studied the biological effects of an extract of white tea and announced the results in 2009.
"The extract solution induced a decrease in the expression of genes associated with the growth of new fat cells, while also prompting existing [fat cells] to break down the fat they contain," he added.
More Research Needed
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, is largely silent on white tea research. For green tea, its website reports data isn't sufficient to prove it can help you lose weight and calls for further studies.
Researchers at Oregon State University agree, citing studies in animals that reveal promising results in reduced fat tissue levels due to green tea, black tea or caffeine-containing solutions.
No Need to Wait
Don't put off your weight loss efforts while researchers continue their work. The health benefits are sufficient reason to add these teas to your diet. They have less caffeine than coffee and they make wise replacements for sugar-laced libations.
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