Making Tea Part of Your Fitness Routine
Guest Blog Post: Tim Shanley
If you drink tea every day, will it help you stay fit? Tea has the reputation of being one of the world’s healthiest drinks. You may know already that it’s packed with antioxidants that can help prevent heart and liver diseases. But it’s not immediately obvious whether tea can help you reach your fitness goals.
Many teas promise to help you lose weight, increase your metabolism, and burn fat in problem areas. Some teas may also promise to increase your athletic performance and training endurance. But if every tea out there was as effective for weight loss as it’s advertised to be, would obesity even be a problem?
For the answer, we have to turn to science.
Tea, Fitness, and Science
A study of 60 obese people found that those who drank tea in addition to following a standardized diet lost 7.3 pounds more than the placebo group. This study was corroborated by another study on people who consumed green tea extract.
In the second study, participants lost body weight and body fat after consuming green tea extract. The explanation for this seems to be quite simple: green tea contains catechins – these are antioxidants which help the body burn fat.
So green tea can help you lose weight and achieve your fitness goals faster. And because it contains caffeine, it can temporarily improve your performance during training sessions.
At the same time, the rich antioxidant content in tea boosts your overall health, allowing you to train more and sleep better, which can have an indirect impact on your fitness levels.
Other traditional varieties of tea have been associated with weight loss, including the black pu-erh tea, oolong tea, and white tea, all of which speed up the body’s metabolic rate. If you are looking for a caffeine-free alternative, there is some evidence that the African rooibos tea, a type of herbal tea, may promote the burning of fat.
The Best Green Tea for Weight Loss?
Matcha is another tea with proven scientific benefits. Matcha is essentially a powdered high-quality green tea. It may increase fat burning by 17% during moderate exercise. What’s more, matcha is good for your heart, which can have positive long-term effects on your training regimen.
Because of its preparation method, you actually drink the matcha powder. This means that a cup of matcha contains significantly more catechins than green tea.
Good to Know
Tea can definitely help you achieve your fitness goals, but there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
Only certain varieties of tea have been scientifically proven to increase weight loss.
Matcha, black tea, and rooibos are your best choices.
You need to drink it regularly, for at least 12 weeks, alongside following a weight loss diet.
It’s best if you drink several cups a day.
The Bottom Line
If you want to lose weight and improve your fitness regimen, don’t say no to tea. It can speed up your metabolism and burn fat. At the same time, it can replace high-calorie drinks and keep you hydrated without the added sugars.
But it’s important to choose the right kind of tea. For example, you may see better results with matcha than with simple green tea, as the former is more concentrated.
For many people, matcha is a great entry into the rich world of great teas, as it’s stronger and richer in antioxidants than green tea and many find it quite delicious.
In the end, the news is good: matcha tea in aiding with weight loss isn’t just a myth – it’s a scientific fact.
Tim is the lead editor at AzulTea.com. Established in 2015, Azul Tea is a supplier of rare teas from around the world. They look to spice up your life with a collection of exotic teas. In his free time, Tim enjoys sailing and hiking with his black lab mix.
For more fitness inspiration and barre workouts visit Nadia Murdock Fit on Instagram @NadiaMurdock and the NMFIT Blog!