If you have the time, money and patience to brew your own white tea, its metabolism-boosting power is unequaled by any other food or beverage. White tea in powdered form or mixed with other teas and herbs loses much of its potency and will prove less helpful in attaining your weight-loss goals.
Little Caffeine, Lots of Antioxidants in White Tea
White tea boasts a gentle flavor and a powerful kick. Low in caffeine and high in antioxidants, white tea provides more fat-burning catechins than any other tea. White tea, like all real teas--the others are black, oolong and green tea--come from a single plant. White tea, because it spends less time on the vine than other teas, retains more catechins and more health benefits, according to a 2007 article in "The Washington Post."
White Tea Less Studied Than Green Tea
The exact weight loss potential of white tea has not been studied in the same way as has green tea, nor are there definitive measurements of white tea catechins. By some estimates, white tea contains three times as many catechins as green tea, but the only consensus is that white tea contains more. So, at the very least, white tea should provide slightly higher fat-burning power than green tea. And green tea has proven weight-loss benefits.
Possible Weight Loss
Men who drank green tea lost nearly twice as much weight as men who drank black tea in a study conducted by Kevin Maki, a United States researcher. Men who drank green tea containing 660 mg of catechins lost 5.4 lbs. in 12 weeks, compared to the men who drank 22 mg of black tea catechins and lost 2.9 lbs. in the same amount of time. All of the men followed a calorie-restricted diet. The weight loss that could be strictly attributed to green tea was 2.5 lbs. or about .25 lbs. per week. Drinking white tea could theoretically help you lose up to .75 lbs. per week or 3 lbs. per month, based on the results of Maki's study published in 2009 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Home-Brewed Tea Contains More Antioxidants
Tea loses many catechins through processing. More than 90 percent of catechins are lost in bottled tea drinks, according to a study conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture. If you want to take full advantage of the catechins in white tea, you would need to brew the tea yourself from fresh leaves. White tea leaves run about $6 to $15 per oz. or up to about 75 cents per cup as of 2010. To preserve its catechins, white tea should be steeped in water about 175 degrees in temperature. If you don't have a food thermometer, you can boil water, then allow it to cool for several minutes before pouring it over the tea leaves. The tea should be steeped for several minutes and strained, according to the "Washington Post."
Considerations
White tea contains less caffeine than green, oolong and black tea. It is the safest tea choice for pregnant women, who should keep their caffeine intake below 100 mg daily to avoid the possibility of giving birth to low-weight babies, according to the "British Medical Journal." It is not, however, caffeine-free and could adversely affect people with nervous or kidney disorders. Caffeine can cause anxiety, nausea, blurred vision , headaches and irregular heartbeats, according to the Mayo Clinic.
References
- "The Washington Post;" Give Green Tea a Try, but Get a Handle on the Perfect Brew for You; Robert L. Wolke; April 25 2007
- "The Washington Times"; To Health: Tea, Green and White; Jen Waters; Sept. 19 2006
- USDA: Brewing Up the Latest Tea Research
- "Biotech Business Week;" New Obesity Study Findings Have Been Reported by K.D. Maki and Colleagues; March 2 2009
- British Medical Journal: Maternal Caffeine Intake During Pregnancy and Risk of Fetal Growth Restriction; a Large Prospective Observational Study
- Mayo Clinic: Caffeine
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