A lot of people are talking about wu-long tea lately. There are fantastic claims about wu-long tea's slimming properties, as well as its ability to reverse aging, clear skin problems, and protect against heart disease. Several websites proclaim that they have the only "real" brand of wu-long tea that works. So, lets explore the truth about wu-long tea.
What is wu-long tea? It is nothing new. It's been around for centuries and here in America for many years. It is usually know as oolong tea, one of the most popular teas found in Chinese restaurants. The spelling of wu long is just a different phonetic way of writing the Chinese name for oolong tea in English.
Oolong (wu-long) tea comes from the same tea plant that green and black tea comes from. The differences between the tea types is the amount of fermentation the plant goes through after harvest. Green teas are not fermented, while black teas are fermented. Oolong (wu-long) teas are slightly fermented, then the fermentation process is stopped, giving a result that is something between a green and a black tea.
Does wu-long (or oolong) tea really work for dieting and weight loss? A Japanese study by the University of Tokushima School of Medicine compared Japanese women who consumed either water, green matcha tea, or oolong tea after a meal. The results found that oolong tea appeared to increase energy expenditure by 10%, green tea by 4%, and water not at all. So, according to this study, wu-long (or oolong) tea burns more fat than green tea, and more fat is burned when drinking wu-long or green tea after a meal.
The study also found that wu-long (or oolong) tea has half the caffeine of green tea and half the levels of EGCG, green tea's cancer killing compound, so if you want the cancer fighting benefits of tea, you get more from green tea. If you want the weight loss benefits you get more from drinking wu-long (or oolong) tea.
There is also some evidence that wu-long (or oolong) tea provides other health benefits such as increased calorie burning, reduced carbohydrate intake and healthier teeth and skin, although more research needs to be done on the subject.
So, is drinking wu-long (or oolong) tea going to help you lose weight? I don't know. Everyone is different, but it seems to have helped many people (including Oprah) lose weight. Wu-long (or oolong) tea is lower in caffein than many other beverages and it's high in antioxidants, which help reduce your risks of cancer and other diseases, so drinking a pure natural tea can't hurt much to try. Add a little stevia if you want a natural sweetener in your tea.
So, do you need to buy an expensive brand of wu-long (or oolong) tea to get the fat loss benefits? Please don't waste your money on prepackaged name brand type wu-long tea. Any good brand of oolong tea you can buy in a tea store will work. There are different varieties of oolong teas, but often they are just a matter of taste preference, so experiment and try to find the varieties you like the best and will drink the most, for the best benefits.
By Dianne Ronnow © 2007. All rights reserved.
This article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and the resources accompany the article, together with working hyperlinks.
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