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Lipton Diet Green Tea & Weight

Mar 28, 2011 | By Milo Dakota
Lipton Diet Green Tea & Weight
Photo Credit Steph Fowler/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

Lipton's Diet Green Tea comes with a choice of flavors---citrus and mixed berry---and no calories. According to product labels, Lipton's Diet Green tea contains 40 percent of the fat-burning antioxidants you'd get by brewing tea from the brand's tea bags. You won't gain and might lose weight by drinking Lipton's Diet Green Tea products.

Antioxidants

Lipton Diet Green Tea with Citrus Flavor contains 61 milligrams of antioxidants---flavonoids--per 8 ounce cup, and a cup brewed from the brand's all-natural tea bags contains 150 mg per 8 ounce cup. A study by the United States Department of Agriculture found that bottled green teas contained just 12 mg of antioxidants per serving while the highest number of antioxidants---127 mg---could be found only in tea brewed from loose leaves.

Government Tea Study

Lipton's measuring methods may have differed from those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Also, the USDA measured only antioxidants called catechins---the ones linked in scientific studies to weight loss and other health benefits. Lipton measures flavonoids. All catechins are flavonoids, but not all flavonoids are catechins. Also, the government's figures are based on an average of all brands. By the USDA's measurements, you would need to drink 10 cups of Lipton Diet Green tea to consume as many catechins as you'd find in a 6-ounce cup of tea brewed from loose leaves. By Lipton's measurements, you'd need to drink 2 cups.

Weight Loss Study

You'd need to drink 3 to 6 cups of brewed green tea---or up to 10 times as many cups of Lipton Diet Green Tea to strive for the fat loss achieved by participants in recent clinical trials. In a study conducted by researchers at Oklahoma State University, people who drank 4 cups of strong green tea daily for eight weeks lost an average of 5.5 pounds. Lead author Arpita Basu said participants who consumed 460 mg of catechins daily in pill form lost 4.9 pounds, and persons in the control group who drank 4 cups of water and took 2 placebo pills lost none. Basu's study was published in August 2010 in the "Journal of the American College of Nutrition."

Green Tea and Belly Fat

Green tea catechins may help you lose belly fat. The most successful pound-shedders in another survey consumed 660 mg of green tea catechins daily. Men in a study by Kevin Maki, president of a private U.S. research firm, lost 5.4 pounds and substantially reduced their waist measurements in a 12-week trial. They lost nearly twice as much as men who consumed 22 mg of catechins from black tea. All of the men in Maki's study also exercised and followed a reduced-calorie diets, according to the report published in February 2009 in the "Journal of Nutrition."

Considerations

Lipton Diet Green Tea drinks provide a convenient, sweet, calorie-free beverage. Unsweetened brewed tea contains no calories and more catechins. Brewed tea contains more caffeine than bottled drinks. If you want to try brewing your own green tea, experts say water temperature is important. You can use a thermometer to make certain the water you use falls between 140 and 185 degrees or boil the water and let it sit for several minutes before pouring over leaves. Green tea steeps in several minutes, and the leaves can be reused a half dozen times.

References

Article reviewed by demand12324 Last updated on: Mar 28, 2011

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