Black Tea & Weight Loss
Black tea was used as a drink in China as early as the sixth century B.C.E. Three centuries later, the Japanese were growing tea plants. Dutch traders introduced tea to the Europeans in the 1700s. The first European settlers in the Americas brought black tea with them. Drinking tea has become a social tradition in many cultures. The English custom of drinking black tea daily at 5:00 PM has been followed since the 18th century.
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Black Tea Aids In Weight Loss
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A study by Drs. Rumpler, Seale, Clevidence, Yamamoto and Komatsu of the U.S.D.A. Beltsville Humer Nutrition Center proved that there is a link between drinking tea and weight loss. Persistent consumption of tea is required, they reported, to obtain any beneficial effect. A study in Japan published in the "Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism" in 2008 showed that black tea helped with weight loss, and also had the additional benefit of lowering cholesterol levels.
Black Tea Increases Metabolism
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Tea can accelerate weight loss by boosting the body's metabolism. At the same time, it also blocks the fattening effects of carbohydrates. This is especially true of Oolong tea. Both black tea and Oolong tea are derived from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. With black tea, the leaves are left to oxidize after they are picked. With Oolong tea, the leaves are wilted in the sun and then "bruised" to expose the juice to the air, where partial oxidation is allowed to take place before being fully dried.
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Soothing Stress
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People under stress often snack on unhealthy, fattening processed foods, which are high in calories. A study by UCL (the University College London) published in the journal Psychopharmacology found that people who drank tea de-stressed more quickly. Also, the study found that those who drank black tea four to six times a week had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood stream after a stressful event. Therefore, drinking black tea may indirectly help prevent weight gain by enabling the body to recover from stress faster, preventing binge eating.
Black Tea Detoxifies
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Another way drinking black tea may help with weight loss is by its ability to detoxify the body of harmful chemicals. John Weisburger, Ph.D., senior researcher at the Institute for Cancer Prevention, says, "I was the first American researcher to show that tea modifies the metabolism to detoxify harmful chemicals." He drinks 10 cups a day. The polyphenols, which are a type of antioxidant, search for "free radicals" and detoxify them. Black tea has eight to 10 times the polyphenols found in fruits and vegetables.
The Unknown Ingredient
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One particular ingredient has not yet been identified with black tea's ability to aid in weight loss. Patients have lost weight when black tea consumption was used in combination with other nutritional supplements. It is not yet understood exactly how black tea alone, or in what specific combination with other supplements, gives it the ability to help with weight loss, but there is ample evidence for its benefit. Tea contains caffeine, catechins, polyphenols, flavonoids and amino acids. These ingredients are known to have effects on neurotransmitters in the brain.
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