Get Email Updates from Google
Wuyi Green Tea Diet For Weight Loss?
Recently there has been increased interest in “tea diets”. Sometimes referred to as Green Tea Diets, but more recently marketed as Wuyi Tea Diets, these so called “diets” use effective advertising tricks to sell tea to vulnerable people on the premise that it can help them to lose weight. Much of the publicity surrounding the tea was caused when it was discussed by Dr. Nicholas Perricone on the Oprah Winfrey show. Although these Wuyi teas do have some health benefits that other drinks do not provide, they are not a cure for obesity, and their ability to help a person lose weight is debatable. Usually it is advised that a healthy diet and exercise is also taken while on the “tea diet”, which makes the effectiveness of the tea itself seem all the more unlikely.
According to one aggressive sales pitch, Wuyi tea has the following properties: “zero carbohydrates, zero calories, zero fats, Wu-Yi Tea extremely powerful“. Being free of carbs and calories is in itself debatable, but advertising a tea to be fat free is just taking the sales pitch a little too far. It is like marketing “fat free beer” and “low carb vodka” as the latest health drinks.
So, what is Wuyi Tea?
continued below ....
|
Wuyi Tea is simply tea from the Wuyi Mountains in China. The Wuyi mountains are situated in between Wuyishan City, in Fujian province and Wuyishan Town, in Jiangxi province. The mountains cover an area of 60 km². It is now a biodiversity conservation zone. Several varieties of tea are grown around Mount Wuyi, including Da Hong Pao tea and Lapsang souchong. “Wuyi tea” as sold on the internet is often a blend of various teas from this region, and is not always the best tea available from the area.
The most popular Wuyi teas sold for weight loss are Oolong and the generic Green tea. These teas are possibly the healthiest teas in the world, as they contain various properties which have allowed them to be classes as “superfoods”. Research has shown that drinking green tea increases bone density due to the presence of flavonoids and phytoestrogen. It also contains antioxidants which research has shown may help to prevent various forms of cancer, reduce Alzheimers, protect the heart and even fight HIV.
Research (published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology) has also suggested that green tea may help to reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis and to lower cholesterol levels.
Can Green Tea Help You Lose Weight?
This is still unclear. Green tea contains an antioxidant called epigallocatechin gallate, which is claimed to have a calorie-burning (fat burning) effect. However, biologists are quick to point out that these properties are quickly lost after the leaves are picked, so therefore dried tea leaves are unlikely to hold any useful amounts of epigallocatechin gallate.
It is thought that the tea reduces weight by stopping fat cells from releasing inflammatory chemicals that attract more fat causing them to grow in size. Many green teas sold for weight loss purposes also contain olive and grape components, which have a similar effect. Spearmint is often added to improve the flavour. Is it important to note that if the tea sold was good quality tea from Wuyi, there would be no need to add spearmint to improve flavour.
Health Risks of Green Tea
The websites that are selling Green teas from the Wuyi region never mention the known health risks associated with drinking copious amounts of the tea. In 2005 studies revealed that green tea can increase the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida (published in Cancer Research). Furthermore, in 2007 research published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, showed that consuming large amounts of polyphenol can cause liver malfunction.
A word of caution: there are a lot of differences between various types of green tea. It is possible that if you chose to buy a product online for a specific purpose, that you may actually be receiving and inferior product.
So, Green tea from the mountains of Wuyi may contain some properties to help you lose weight. They certainly contain other properties that will provide health benefits. However, not all green teas are equal, and drinking too much may cause other health problems.
References:
- Green tea ‘may protect the heart’ (2005)
- Green tea may increase birth defect risk (2005)
- Green tea compound Alzheimer hope (2005)
- Green tea can be harmful in large quantities (2007)
- Green tea could cut arthritis risk (2003)
Tweet Me!
|
4 Responses to “Wuyi Green Tea Diet For Weight Loss?”
Post Your Message
I’m 15 years old and I need help to lose weight. I have tried everything.
Hi Laura, sorry to hear that you are struggling with your weight. However, at 15 you still have plenty of time to turn things around.
I suggest that you read our pages on losing weight.
The key thing is to eat a healthy diet, free of all junk food. I would also suggest giving up all bread and baked foods (cakes, cookies sweet breads etc.).
You say that you have tried everything, but what exactly have you tried? List all the things you have done, and we can see if we can determine where you may be going wrong.
At your age, exercise should produce fast results also. Do not be shy about exercising – you will never look back once you get started. Join a martial arts class, they are generally a fun way to get fit, and people are often less critical in these classes.
Let us know how you get on, and good luck!
Green tea weight loss has been the talk of the town recently. Here are the reasons why green tea is touted as the natural way to lose weight…
Hello Tim. On your site you say “study has found that green tea extract helped increase energy expenditure”. Please could you provide references for this study. Was it under scientific conditions? Was the research verified in double blind testing? The other two reasons are both to do with the blood sugar / insulin response. Have you considered the health risks associated with drinking too much green tea? Surely the risks are greater than the benefits in this instance? Many people sell green tea as some sort of wonder drug. Yes it can be useful, but if you are still stuffing your face with sugar laden treats a whole barrel of green tea will not help you.