At the beginning of a new year, I know we all start to question our overall health and well-being. I know I do. I realize I could have at least eaten better and exercised more. Since I have also drank green tea for about 10 years, own a wholesale green tea business, and written several articles on green tea, I start to receive numerous emails during the new year about drinking green tea to help with diet, weight loss, and overall health.
I always begin answering such green tea questions in the same way:
- I am not a doctor, dietician, nutritionist and quite frankly not versed on the matters of health and how to lose weight.
- You should always consult your doctor about matters of health
I am also a skeptic and suspicious of anything that promotes quick and easy weight loss. There are so many people out there that will say and do anything to make a buck, so be careful about what you do to be healthy and lose weight.
That being said, there have been numerous studies and articles published that suggest drinking green tea may help with losing weight and diet. Here are a few I have mentioned on my site:
Personally, I don't know that green tea has any effect on losing weight, but I prefer it over a pepsi or coca cola any day. I don't drink soda pop. If you are into specialty coffees with large amounts of cream and sugar, it can also certainly have less calories. I don't drink coffee either. Green tea may perhaps promote healthy weight loss just because it is not a soft drink with empty calories nor heavy with cream and sugar like most specialty coffees.
If you do decide to drink green tea, I highly recommend you purchase loose-leaf green tea online as opposed to green tea bags from a store. Loose-leaf green tea is typically of much better quality and cheaper. I have never been impressed with green tea from a store in a bag. It is often green tea dust and of questionable quality.
See Loose-Leaf Green Tea Compared to Store Bought Green Tea.
Everyone's taste buds are different, but these days I just drink a good quality gyokuro or sencha. On occasion I will also drink jasmine pearls. I typically purchase fresh fruit and spices separately to flavor the tea. Raspberry green tea is a regular around the house.
My recommendation is to be careful and use common sense. I think green tea promotes health and can definitely be part of a healthy diet in 2008. As for being a miracle diet aid, I doubt it. Please take care of yourself. There is only one of you!
Happy New Year!