Tea is among the most popular drinks in the world and is traditionally enjoyed by more than one-third of the population. With increased attention to weight in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, some people -- and salespeople -- have begun to claim that tea can help promote weight loss.
Tea Basics
You make tea by steeping dried plants in boiling water, which leeches the nutrients and flavors of the plant into the beverage. People have drunk tea for pleasure, taste, religious practice and as medicine for at least 5,000 years. Popular tea choices include English breakfast, jasmine, green tea and "herbal" teas made with floral and fruit flavors.
Zero Calories
Tea has zero calories, unless you add sweeteners like sugar, cream or honey. Since it takes energy to process anything you digest, you actually burn calories for each cup of tea. However, this burn is at a rate of about 1 calorie per ounce -- meaning you would have to drink many gallons of tea to burn the 3,500 calories that make up one pound of fat.
Portion Control
Dr. Melina Jamplois and personal trainer Bill Philips agree that drinking a glass of zero-calorie beverage before each meal will help you control your appetite and portions. This medical understanding is mirrored in the traditional wisdom of beginning meals with a period of drinking tea and social talk. If you use this practice, and drink tea as your first response to snack cravings, you fill your stomach with a zero-calorie liquid, leaving less room for other foods.
Stimulants and Diuretics
So-called "diet teas" base their weight loss claims on two active ingredients: stimulants and diuretics. Stimulants, like caffeine and ginseng, increase activity, burning more calories and helping you lose weight. Diuretics make you urinate. Although they cause temporary water weight loss, you put the weight back on once you re-establish a healthy level of hydration. Neither of these techniques are healthy weight loss methods. Green tea, commonly advertised as a weight-loss tea since the mid 2000s, contributes to weight loss for the same reasons.
Bottom Line
Drinking tea can help support other weight loss efforts via its negative net calories and ability to fill an empty stomach. However, diet teas foster further weight loss via unhealthy methods. If you want to lose weight using tea, do it by drinking some before meals -- and use less expensive, regular teas rather than weight-loss supplement teas.
References
- Bigelow Tea Company: History of Tea
- CNN Health: Can Drinking Lots of Water Help You Lose Weight?
- "Body for Life"; Bill Phillips; 1998
- "You: Losing Weight"; Roizen & Oz; 2011
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy"; Dr. Walter Willett; 2004
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