The Abstract of the article linked in your opening seems more circumspect in its claims than your headline. It talks about the potential of catechin and caffeine rich teas (CCRTs) to produce significant effects, the limitations of the approach, and concludes that CCRTs may be useful agents. Is there another article from the Symposium more definitive in its support of your headline?
The abstract is a useful starting point as it was widely circulated by the media but the Tea Council of the USA has a much longer list of peer-reviewed research papers attesting to the fact that the caffeine in tea does increase metabolism, burning calories. The catechins and polyphenols in tea do bind with fat making less available to the body. In the report cited the combination resulted in weight loss. The qualifier is always “significant.” Participants in the study lost an average 2.9 pounds in 12 weeks and kept it off. I advise retailers they can confidently state the above and that people who consume tea regularly have lower Body Mass Indexes than those who do not and less overall body fat. They also benefited from hydration and the many other health benefits associated with drinking tea (additional American Journal of Clinical Nutrition cited here). WebMD offers a similar assessment and a list of useful articles including Drink Your Way To Weight Loss and Skinny Sipping – The Best & Worst Beverages for Weight Loss. The content of these articles was reviewed by qualified physicians. Retailers should caution there are no “easy fixes.” Exercise and consuming fewer calories each day are what lead to weight loss, but tea is clearly helpful as it contains zero or few calories and is a great substitute for high-calorie beverages.
3 responses to “Need to Know (Jan. 6, 2014)”
The Abstract of the article linked in your opening seems more circumspect in its claims than your headline. It talks about the potential of catechin and caffeine rich teas (CCRTs) to produce significant effects, the limitations of the approach, and concludes that CCRTs may be useful agents. Is there another article from the Symposium more definitive in its support of your headline?
The abstract is a useful starting point as it was widely circulated by the media but the Tea Council of the USA has a much longer list of peer-reviewed research papers attesting to the fact that the caffeine in tea does increase metabolism, burning calories. The catechins and polyphenols in tea do bind with fat making less available to the body. In the report cited the combination resulted in weight loss. The qualifier is always “significant.” Participants in the study lost an average 2.9 pounds in 12 weeks and kept it off. I advise retailers they can confidently state the above and that people who consume tea regularly have lower Body Mass Indexes than those who do not and less overall body fat. They also benefited from hydration and the many other health benefits associated with drinking tea (additional American Journal of Clinical Nutrition cited here). WebMD offers a similar assessment and a list of useful articles including Drink Your Way To Weight Loss and Skinny Sipping – The Best & Worst Beverages for Weight Loss. The content of these articles was reviewed by qualified physicians. Retailers should caution there are no “easy fixes.” Exercise and consuming fewer calories each day are what lead to weight loss, but tea is clearly helpful as it contains zero or few calories and is a great substitute for high-calorie beverages.
Thanks for the links. Noticed the link to Skinny Sipping is bad but the article can be found at http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/drink-pounds-away