When I was in college for my B.S. in Culinary Arts, one of the classes that I took for my beverages minor was called Coffee, Tea, and Non-Alcoholic Beverages.
I’ll be totally upfront…
I barely passed the barista practical and I can’t foam milk if my life depended on it, but I learned a lot about tea through our various tastings.
Fun fact: when you prepare tea for tasting, it’s called a liquoring. But, I digress.
What I learned about green tea in particular is that it can be very effective for weight loss.
To prepare green tea effectively, you need to pour below-simmering water on top of the green tea leaves and let the leaves steep for 3-5 minutes. Smaller, more broken-up leaves will impart flavor more quickly. The higher the quality of the tea, the less resistance it will have to hot water.
But, you’re probably looking for a bit more information than a broad overview on how to prepare green tea for weight loss.
In this post, I’ll go over:
- The best green tea for weight loss and what you can realistically lose
- 11 things you should know about preparing green tea for weight loss
- A recipe to brew green tea
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Which Green Tea is Best for Weight Loss?
The tea elites will probably tell you that the best and only way to brew green tea is through using loose tea leaves. But, that simply isn’t true.
But first, what is green tea?
Green tea is tea leaves that are fermented for the shortest period of time. Green tea typically contains around 35 mg of caffeine per 8-ounce serving.
Here’s the order (in terms of fermentation):
- Green
- Oolong
- Black
Oolong tea is typically what’s served at Chinese restaurants, FYI.
Back to the debate on loose tea leaves vs. tea bags.
Tea bags will be much more convenient for you, as I’ll discuss later. So will using Japanese tea instead of Chinese tea.
For right now, you should take away that you should NEVER be drinking green tea from a bottle if your intention is weight loss.
It’s been processed (no matter what the label says), so it’s efficacy is much lower.
How Much Weight Can Be Lost by Drinking Green Tea?
I suppose this is really when you found out if green tea will become your new BFF.
According to research published in the Journal of Physiology and Behavior on 60 obese individuals, scientists found that those taking green tea extract lost on average 7.3 more pounds (3.3 kg) and burned 183 more calories per day after three months as compared to those in a controlled group.
What this means is that you can expect to lose 1-3 pounds per month from green tea.
The catechins in green tea help to speed up your metabolism, allowing you to process calories faster. Catechins are a flavonoid and a naturally occurring antioxidant, in case you didn’t know.
While science is on the side of green tea for weight loss, it should just be one tool used to help you achieve your dream body.
How to Prepare Green Tea for Weight Loss: 11 Things You Should Know
So, you’re ready to brew green tea and lose weight.
Awesome!
Here are 11 things that you should know in advance so you can maximize your efforts:
- Use tea bags for convenience
- Don’t use bottled green tea
- Use Japanese green tea over Chinese green tea
- Don’t overheat the water
- Complement the tea with lemon
- Microwave green tea if it gets cold
- Add honey instead of sugar
- Don’t steep the green tea for too long
- Don’t buy green tea in bulk
- Ditch the milk and cream (even if you’re British)
- Use the appropriate drinking vessel
Let’s explore those a little more!
1. Use Tea Bags for Convenience
Let’s face it…
It’s rare that you’ll actually have time in your busy day to pull out a teapot, handpick some fresh green tea leaves, and patiently wait for them to steep for 3-5 minutes before heading out to start your day.
I don’t blame you.
Tea bags are great because they afford you the convenience of being able to make and take tea on the go.
Just don’t make sure you forget about your tea and steep them for too long, but I’ll go over that later.
Weight-Friendly Tip
Green tea brewed from loose tea leaves will have more antioxidants as compared to green tea coming from a tea bag. But, in my opinion, not enough to force you to rework your morning routine. Tea bags are nearly as effective.When looking for a brand to trust, look for green tea that isn’t modified, flavored, or aromatized in any way. Look for tea coming from a single region and if possible, organically grown.
Of course, all this is moot if you’re a purist. I won’t hate you if you are.
2. Don’t Use Bottled Green Tea
Green tea in a bottle is PROCESSED.
I don’t care if it says it or not on the label. It is.
When you process green tea, it gets modified. Even if the brand advertises that it’s been fortified with vitamins and minerals (even antioxidants), it’s not the best way to go.
The more processed tea gets, the less nutrition it has. But, that’s how everything in the processed food world goes…
Diet Green Tea Snapple, for example, has next to no epigallocatechin gallate (ECGC), which is the most abundant antioxidant found in green tea.
Simply put, processed tea isn’t as healthy for you as the real McCoy.
3. Use Japanese Green Tea Over Chinese Green Tea
There are many tea-growing regions out there.
They include:
- China
- Japan
- Taiwan
- India
- Sri Lanka
- Nepal
- Vietnam
- East African Coast
But, for the purposes of green tea, you’ll want to focus on Japanese green tea and not Chinese green tea (or the others on that list).
Chinese tea, while containing slightly more catechins, may be contaminated with lead, researchers say. Because of the uncertainty surrounding this, it’s also why you should stick to tea bags.
You have no way of knowing otherwise.
According to the book Tea: History, Terroirs, and Variety, which I used back in my class on this, the goal is to produce “aracha,” which the raw product that is sold at auction.
To get aracha, this process is followed:
- Plucking
- Withering
- Steaming
- Cooling
- First drying
- Rolling
- Second drying
- Shaping
- Third drying
- Grouping
- Sifting and sorting
- Final drying
- Packaging
Japan tends to be more technologically-advanced in their tea production, which I find to be advantageous.
4. Don’t Overheat the Water
If you’re a coffee fan, you should know that when you use boiling water to brew coffee, it tastes terrible. That’s because the water over-extracts the coffee, making it taste bitter.
It’s a similar thing with tea.
Water that’s too hot will kill the potential aroma and flavor of green tea, which is quite fragrant. The goal is to use below-simmering water.
What this translates to is about 176 F (or 80 C). Water boils at 212 F, for the record.
You can buy (for cheap) electric kettles that will perfectly heat your water so that your tea isn’t over-extracted. I can’t recommend them enough.
5. Complement the Tea With Lemon
If you’ve lost your voice before, you’ve probably gotten the advice to drink tea with lemon and honey. Or, maybe they just tell you that in the theatre business.
Either way, it’s sound advice.
Since only around 20% of the catechins remain after digestion, adding some lemon juice can help boost that level up.
A study done by Purdue University found that lemon juice helped to retain 80% of tea’s catechins, as compared to other citrus fruits rich in Vitamin C.
Besides, lemon adds a little bit of zing to the tea, which never hurts.
6. Microwave Green Tea if it Gets Cold
If you’ve got cold tea sitting around, you better not throw it out.
Just because you forgot about the tea doesn’t mean that the tea should suffer. All you have to do is zap it in the microwave and it will come back to life.
By putting your tea in the microwave for just one minute, you can increase the amount of catechins present by around 20%.
Not bad as an alternative to having to make a new cup of tea and then forgetting it.
7. Add Honey Instead of Sugar
Sugar will increase your blood sugar levels much more than honey will. In fact, honey has been shown to reduce the glycemic index in small amounts.
If you’re diabetic, you should especially stay away from sweetening your tea with sugar.
And, sugar, in general, if you haven’t already listened to your doctor about that.
Weight-Friendly Tip
When it comes to sweeteners, I much prefer natural sweeteners over artificial ones. That means I prefer honey and agave nectar over Splenda, for example. I’m also partial to erythritol if it was sourced from monkfruit. I’ve had the best success in baking with that.According to research published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, green tea, honey, and Vitamin C work synchronously, helping to:
- Heal wounds, especially ulcers and burns (honey)
- Protect against ultraviolet-induced events, such as photoimmunosuppression and skin cancer growth (green tea)
- Produce positive effects against skin hyperpigmentation and aging
While there’s always more research to be done, this is a good sign that honey and green tea synergistically work together to make your overall health better.
8. Don’t Steep the Green Tea for Too Long
As I mentioned before when discussing the proper temperature for steeping tea leaves, you also don’t want to steep them for too long.
Smaller and more broken-up tea leaves will disperse flavor more quickly. In tea bags, they are small leaves.
General good practice is to steep the tea for 3-5 minutes, depending on how strong you like the tea. But, steeping it for too long will give the tea a bitter taste.
Something tells me you won’t like bitter green tea, especially unsweetened. Green tea is supposed to be the least bitter of the main types.
9. Don’t Buy Green Tea in Bulk
If you’ve ever let a glass bottle of beer sit by the sun or a heat source for too long, it’s probably got skunked. The odor’s funky and the taste is totally off.
A similar process can happen with tea.
The longer the tea sits, the more the antioxidants will degrade.
The best way to store tea is:
- In a dark, dry room
- Between 60 and 70 F
Tea can lose its potency by up to 30% in just 6 short months, so don’t buy it in bulk at Costco to try and save money. You’ll be shortchanging your body.
10. Ditch the Milk and Cream (Even if You’re British)
Personally, I don’t understand the fascination of adding milk or cream to tea.
But, I recognize it’s done and I’m here to warn you against it, especially if you plan on drinking green tea for weight loss.
Dairy can inhibit the effects of green tea.
In a study published in the European Heart Journal, researchers found that milk counteracted the favorable health effects of tea on vascular function.
The protein in milk, casein, is largely responsible for this.
So to avoid this altogether, try drinking the green tea straight and see if you can learn to like it.
11. Use the Appropriate Drinking Vessel
Believe it or not, choosing the right drinking vessel makes a world of a difference.
In the same way that you wouldn’t line a baking sheet with wax paper to put in the oven (it’ll melt and your food will absorb it), you don’t want to put your hot tea into thin plastic.
Some plastic drink containers contain bisphenol A (BPA) that leaches when put in contact with hot water. You could accidentally be helping yourself to a cup full of toxins (15 to 55 times more likely compared to cool or room temperature water according to research published in a toxicology journal) without even realizing it.
Here are some vessels to try out:
- Quality thermos
- Porcelain mug
If you’re concerned about a specific brand, let me know in the comments below and I will find out everything I can about them.
Green Tea Recipe for Weight Loss
Ah, now comes the fun part!
As promised, I’m going to give you a foolproof green tea recipe to use with your weight loss.
Here it is:
- Heat filtered or spring water to simmering and allow it to cool for 3-5 minutes until it reaches approximately 176 F (80 C).
- Warm your teapot with hot water and fill to about 1/3 and then wait for 30 seconds. Discard the water.
- Add the tea leaves (or tea bag). One heaping teaspoon of loose tea leaves is equivalent to a tea bag and works with 1 cup of water.
- Pour the water on to the leaves (or tea bag).
- Let it steep for 3-5 minutes.
- Once steeping is complete, transfer to a drinking vessel. If steeped for too short, the character of the tea will not be revealed. If it’s too long, the bitterness of the tannins will overwhelm the aromas.
- Serve and savor (with honey and lemon if you’d like).
This may seem complicated at first (and some of the steps may seem unnecessary), but I promise you that this is the optimal way to brew tea.
Again, feel free to use an electric tea kettle. That’s much better than zapping water in the microwave. You’ll have much more control over the temperature.
Brewing tea really is an art and a science and not something to be rushed on.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’d be surprised if you didn’t have any questions about how to prepare green tea for weight loss.
I certainly did before I started doing it.
Here are some questions I thought of:
- What is the best time to drink green tea for weight loss?
- Can I lose belly fat by drinking green tea?
- What happens if I drink green tea everyday?
- How many cups of green tea a day to lose weight?
If you still have questions, make sure to drop them in the comments below.
1. What is the Best Time to Drink Green Tea for Weight Loss?
It’s best to drink green tea on a routine basis.
The best time to drink green tea is after your meals. But, green tea is alkaline and will upset your stomach if it is sensitive. Experts recommend you drink green tea in the morning and at night, but you should strive for at least once per day.
I can’t give you a specific time of day because there are too many variables, but as long as you do it consistently, its effects should start to manifest.
2. Can I Lose Belly Fat by Drinking Green Tea?
Yes, you absolutely can lose belly fat by drinking green tea.
You can expect to lose 1-3 pounds of fat per month by drinking green tea. Because of the catechins in green tea, your metabolism will be boosted and enable you to burn calories faster. But, you should be drinking green tea in conjunction with other ways to lose belly fat.
If it’s really your goal to lose belly fat, then I’d also recommend a targeted exercise routine to reduce your stomach fat.
3. What Happens If I Drink Green Tea Everyday?
Nothing immediately, but problems may start to appear after a long time.
Because green tea is alkaline, it can cause stomach problems such as diarrhea and even iron deficiency. Insomnia is also a known side-effect. Drinking one cup of green tea daily will likely not cause you issues, but once you start consuming 3+ cups per day, it can be detrimental.
If you think you may be consuming too much green tea, stop. Consult a doctor or a dietitian and ask them to monitor your results and progress.
Green tea should not be used EVER as a substitute for a meal.
4. How Many Cups of Green Tea a Day to Lose Weight Fast?
As mentioned before, green tea does NOT help you shed pounds quickly.
To lose 1-3 pounds over the span of a month, you should drink 1-2 cups of fresh, green tea daily. You should also be exercising and eating a healthy diet to complement the metabolism-boosting effects of the catechins for green tea. Consuming a 1200-calorie diet should help you lose weight more quickly.
If you need to lose weight fast, then a caloric deficit is the easiest way to do that. In fact, that’s the only way you can lose weight. Eat fewer calories than your body burns out.
But, trying to starve yourself may lead you to get dehydrated and pass out. Do not do a rapid weight loss program without your doctor’s supervision.
Conclusion
I hope you feel confident to prepare green tea for weight loss!
In this article, we discussed:
- The best green tea for weight loss and what you can realistically lose
- 11 things you should know about preparing green tea for weight loss
- A recipe to brew green tea
And as a gentle reminder, you can expect to lose 1-3 pounds per month because of green tea, but it shouldn’t be the only weight loss tool in your arsenal.
If you have any questions, make sure to drop them in the comments below. I look forward to hearing how your weight loss journey is going.
To your weight-loss success!
