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When it comes to blasting belly fat, HIIT workouts and intermittent fasting may come to mind first – but what about tea?
New research published in the journal Nutrients reveals that drinking oolong tea can help you burn fat while you sleep. Specifically, researchers at the University of Tsukuba in Japan found that drinking just two cups of traditional Chinese tea each day speeds up fat burning processes in the body. (Related: 15 Underrated Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work.)
“Like all teas, oolong contains caffeine, which impacts energy metabolism by increasing our heart rate. However, studies suggest that tea consumption may also increase fat breakdown, regardless of the effects of caffeine, ”says lead author of the study, Professor Kumpei Tokuyama, said in a statement.
“We therefore wanted to examine the effects of oolong consumption versus caffeine alone on energy and fat metabolism in a group of healthy volunteers.”
What did the researchers find after studying the participants for two weeks? Oolong tea – which is partially oxidized and is neither fully considered green or black tea, given that it exhibits characteristics of both – and pure caffeine increased fat breakdown by 20% compared to those who took a placebo.
An even more impressive finding is that the positive effects of oolong tea on the body were maintained throughout the night. Oddly enough, neither the group that drank oolong tea or pure caffeine during that two-week period experienced an increase in energy expenditure. This observation suggests that participants may have developed a tolerance to the stimulant effects of both treatments.
On top of that, there was no noticeable change in the sleep patterns of the two groups, or even the time it took them to fall asleep, despite the fact that both treatments involved caffeine, a known sleep disruptor. Lack of sleep can then also disrupt energy metabolism – a group of processes the body uses to break down food and use it for energy – which can lead to weight gain over time. However, oolong did not appear to have negative effects on participants’ sleep.
So, should you consider drinking oolong every day? Professor Tokuyama says that while oolong’s effects on fat breakdown during sleep suggest that tea might help control body weight, it is not known whether these effects will actually lead to fat loss over an extended period of time.
“Additionally, we want to test a decaffeinated oolong tea to better distinguish the effects of caffeine from other tea components, which will help us understand exactly how oolong helps break down fat,” he said. in the press release.
Now be sure to read up on the side effects of consuming caffeine, according to science.
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