If you like the taste of green and oolong tea and the scent of jasmine flowers, you may love jasmine tea as a calorie-free, fat-burning addition to your weight loss program. Tea antioxidants boost metabolism, and the scent of jasmine elevates mood. But jasmine tea may cause severe emotional disturbances when consumed in large quantities.
Jasmine and Tea Plants
Jasmine, meaning "gift from God" in Arabic, includes some 200 species of night-blooming flowers. Jasmine tea is made by layering jasmine flowers over green or oolong tea for several hours or overnight. Depending on the grade of tea, the process may be repeated up to a dozen times. The flowers are usually, but not always removed from the final product. Green and oolong teas come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, but green tea is picked earlier than oolong, and their weight loss properties differ. The teas contain caffeine and antioxidants.
Effects of Jasmine
Jasmine oil is often used in aromatherapy and massage treatments to ease depression and calm nerves. But it may produce different undesirable effects. In a study led by T. Hongratanaworakit of Thailand, participants whose abdomens were massaged with jasmine oil experienced faster breathing and elevated blood pressure rates, according to the study published in "Natural Products Communication" in January 2010. And in Florida, charges against a man accused of burglary and aggravated assault were dropped after court-appointed psychologists said the man's habit of drinking 10 cups of jasmine tea daily produced psychosis. The man had broken into a neighbor's home and chased her with a knife after hallucinating that ceramic figures had come to life.
Green Tea and Weight Loss
Green tea helped people lose weight in at least 15 scientific studies, according to the "Los Angeles Times." Green tea contains a lot of antioxidants called catechins, and you would need to consume 300 mg or more daily to enjoy appreciable weight loss. Green tea brewed from loose leaves contains the most catechins and bottled green tea the least. You would need to drink 3 cups or more daily of full-strength tea or 25 cups of bottled tea to attain results noted by the "Los Angeles Times."
Role of Antioxidants
Catechins work by speeding metabolism and breaking down fat. All tea contains catechins, but green tea contains 3.5 times as much as in black tea. In a study comparing the effects of green and black tea on weight loss, green tea drinkers lost nearly twice as much weight as those who drank black tea. In the study, conducted by United States researcher Kevin Maki, participants who drank green tea also lost substantially more belly fat. The green tea drinkers lost 5.4 lb. in 12 weeks and the black tea drinkers lost 2.9 lb., according to an article in the "Journal of Nutrition" in February 2009.
Oolong Tea Benefits
Oolong tea contains fewer catechins than black tea, but another type of antioxidant in oolong may make it superior to green tea in achieving weight loss, according to Guo Xirong, an award-winning obesity researcher. The polyphenols in oolong tea activate a fat-dissolving enzyme called lipase. And a study by Masatoshi Nakona of Japan's Aichi Medical University presented to the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity in October 2001 found that nine of 12 people who drank 4 cups or more of oolong tea daily lost fat in their waists and eight of 10 lost fat in their upper arms.
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 Gazette"; The Jasmine Tea Made Him Do It; July 12, 2003
- Ray Sahelian, M.D.: Jasmine
- PubMed: Stimulating Effect of Aromatherapy Massage with Jasmine Oil
- "Los Angeles Times"; Slim Chance Green Tea Can Burn Fat Off; Chris Woolston; Aug. 16, 2010
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