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• Does weight loss tea work?

Does weight loss tea work?

Labelled variously as ‘slim’, ‘slender’, ‘body shape’ or ‘diet’ tea, weight loss teas are widely available online and through retailers including supermarkets and chemists. But despite their popularity, a search of the medical literature turns up little in the way of published research on their effectiveness for weight loss (green teaÌý²¹²õ¾±»å±ð).Ìý

So can they help you lose weight? We put this question to three experts:

What’s in weight loss tea?

Weight loss tea products contain a veritable smorgasbord of botanical ingredients, including a range of different tea leaves, herbs, spices and concentrated herbal extracts. We’ve listed some of the more common ones below. 

Many have a long history of traditional use and are thought to have a variety of benefits , but in most cases more evidence is needed to support their effectiveness. For weight loss specifically there’s little published evidence to support their use – at best, more definitive clinical trials are required before conclusions can be drawn. 

Camellia sinensis (green tea)

Green tea contains caffeine as well as compounds known as catechins. These are both thought to assist with weight loss by helping to increase energy expenditure (metabolism). 

There have been a number of systematic reviews of studies focusing on green tea and weight loss. Their conclusions indicate a modest – but not always statistically significant – positive effect for some groups of people, which suggests that more research is needed. 

Studies on green tea and weight loss: a summary

A 2015 review of five human trials involving more than 300 adults with metabolic syndrome (at high risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease) compared changes in body weight in participants who were given either green tea, a fermented tea called Pu-ehr, or tea extracts, and those who were given placebo (non-active) tea extracts or no tea at all. The treatment duration ranged from two to six months.

The researchers found that people in the group with the most risk factors for type 2 diabetes and heart disease who were having tea or tea extracts – and who also ate more healthy foods and exercised more – had a weight reduction of about 4kg. This compared to a weight loss of just 350g in the group who had fewer metabolic syndrome risk factors, received the placebo or no tea, and weren’t given healthy lifestyle advice.

A 2012 Cochrane Review of 18 studies looking at green tea for weight loss and maintenance in overweight and obese adults (1945 people in total) over a 12–13 week period concluded that green tea preparations didn’t produce any meaningful weight loss compared to placebo, and that green tea had no significant effect on maintaining weight loss.

Another analysis of 11 studies looking at weight loss and weight maintenance after green tea supplementation found that regularly consuming green tea extract over the course of at least 12 weeks was associated with a 1.3 kilogram greater weight loss compared to not consuming them.

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Specifically the extracts of some cinnamon species, has been found to help improve blood sugar control and may be useful in the prevention and treatment of diabetes, according to a number of clinical investigations, but further trials are needed to establish its efficacy. 

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Contains chemicals that may increase urine production, but we could find no evidence to support its use for weight loss. 

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Used to help with various digestive problems including bloating, stomach upset and indigestion, but more evidence is needed to determine how effective it is for these uses. 

Garcinia Cambogia 

Contains the chemical hydroxycitric acid. It’s suggested that this may help with weight loss by preventing fat storage and controlling appetite, although the evidence for this is inconclusive. 

Hawthorn

Also known as Crataegus pinnatifida, has been found to reduce the symptoms of heart failure and lower blood pressure in some human studies, but not others. Animal studies have also found it lowers blood cholesterol levels, but more research is needed.

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Used in traditional medicine in many parts of the world to relieve indigestion. There’s some evidence to suggest that taking peppermint oil orally reduces stomach pain, bloating, gas, and bowel movement frequency in people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. 

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Also known as Cassia Angustifolia – has a proven laxative effect and is used to treat constipation. 

Yerba mate 

A plant-based source of caffeine, which is a stimulant and is reported to be beneficial for weight loss due to its impact on increasing metabolic rate, but more evidence is needed to rate its effectiveness for this use. 

Are weight loss tea products safe?

Weight loss teas are generally considered to be relatively low-risk, but some botanical ingredients can cause harm by themselves and also by interacting with conventional medicines. 

Yerba mate, for example, can interact with stimulant drugs such as amphetamines and ephidrine, potentially resulting in increased heart rate and high blood pressure, so shouldn’t be taken together. And people with gastrointestinal conditions such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease should avoid using senna. 

Either way, it’s a good idea to check what’s in the tea, just in case. 

Food or medicine: how are weight loss teas regulated?

Consumers should be confident that the products they buy are safe and do what they say they’re going to do – and regulation is necessary to achieve this. But we’re concerned that weight loss teas fall into a grey area at what’s known as the food-medicine interface, so aren’t being suitably classified or regulated. And we’re not the only ones. 

“These types of products fall within a grey regulatory area, unfortunately, and companies are getting away with making claims that have little supporting evidence,” says Professor Harvey. 

Cancer Council NSW (CCNSW) has long been concerned about the potential impact that unsubstantiated health claims can have on people’s food choices and ultimately their health. 

Clare Hughes, CCNSW nutrition manager, tells us, “We are increasingly seeing claims about products that fall into that grey area between foods and therapeutics. In some cases it’s food products that appear to be making therapeutic claims. In others, it’s the form of the product – a pill or a powder for example – that suggest the product could be a complementary medicine, not a food. And sometimes the product is an ingredient that could go into a food or therapeutic good.” 

Regulation around claims for both food and complementary medicines needs to be strengthened so that companies can’t exploit grey regulatory areas. If a product doesn’t work or causes a problem it should be clear who consumers need to complain to. 

Weight loss teas need to be classified as either food or medicine and regulated accordingly. We’ve written to the ACCC asking them to address this regulatory loophole. 

Is slimming tea a food?

If weight loss teas are considered food, then they need to comply with the Food Standards Code, and companies that make a general level health claim about their product must register the food-health relationship with Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). Companies are required to have evidence, but the claims are self-substantiated – they haven’t been validated or approved by FSANZ – and the evidence isn’t reviewed unless a complaint is made about the product.

“Through our monitoring process we raised concerns about a tea that was making weight-loss claims,” says Hughes. “We were sceptical that there could be enough evidence to support the proposed food-health relationship so we undertook our own systematic literature review which confirmed our opinion. We challenged the claims and the outcome was that they were removed from the company website.”

Hughes is concerned that the self-substantiation process requires specific expertise and time, and may be beyond the capacity of both smaller companies and the enforcement agencies that need to investigate the claims.

“Cancer Council NSW wants to see independent reviews conducted before products get to market. Without this, companies can make profits promoting products’ dubious health benefits, meaning consumers are at risk of being duped by claims that don’t stand up to scientific rigour,” she says. 

Is slimming tea a herbal medicine?

If weight loss teas are considered to be herbal medicine, they should be listed with the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), which is administered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

When listing a product the company (or sponsor) must certify that they hold evidence it works and that that the claims can be supported. The TGA doesn’t look at the evidence for every product that’s listed on the ARTG. However, it does conduct some random and targeted reviews of a small percentage of products each year.

Reviews of studies on commercially available complementary medicines have found that while some have been well-studied and found to be effective, many have not, and scientific evidence for their effectiveness is often scant, poor quality and/or inconclusive, if it exists at all.

And according to Harvey, who has been campaigning since the 1970s to improve regulations for the use and promotion of therapeutic goods, “With sponsors of supposedly therapeutic goods now able to choose from a huge list of pre-approved claims backed only by ‘traditional use’ and not scientific evidence, we’ll be seeing even more of this in future.”

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But while some labels aren’t worth the plastic they’re printed on, a glycaemic index (GI) logo can make all the difference if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes. So what exactly is GI, how is it measured, and who should look out for it?

What is GI?

GI is a measure of how the carbohydrate in a food affects your blood glucose levels as it’s digested, absorbed and metabolised. They’re ranked by comparing the effect against pure glucose. If this happens quickly, there’s a rush of glucose into the bloodstream followed by a quick fall – that’s usually caused by foods that sit higher on the GI scale. On the flipside, lower GI foods create a slower and gentler rise and fall in blood glucose.

It’s this slower rise and fall in blood sugar that’s led to the claims low-GI foods give you longer-lasting energy. They keep blood sugar at a moderate level for a longer time than the sharp peak and fall of high-GI foods. Don’t confuse this with your personal energy levels or your ‘get-up-and-go’: the two things aren’t the same.

Measuring GI

There are three :

• Low GI = value 55 or less
• Medium GI = value of 56 – 69 inclusive
• High GI = 70 or more

The gold standard for measuring GI uses real people: a group of volunteers are each given 50g of glucose and the effect on their blood sugar over the next two hours is measured.

The GI result for glucose is given a value of 100. The same people are then given a serving of the test food, also containing 50g of carbohydrate. The effect on their blood sugar this time is compared with the first test, and the GI is calculated from the average of all the volunteers.

This is a complex process and there are only a few Australian laboratories that can do this type of testing.

Who should be eating low GI?

We all need to watch the GI of our day-to-day diet, but there are a few groups that it’s essential for:

People with diabetes

Diabetics can’t control their blood sugar levels well. A healthy, low-GI diet has been shown to help keep blood sugar levels under control.

People with pre-diabetes

This is where your blood sugar is higher than normal, but not high enough to count as diabetes. Healthy eating – especially low-GI foods – can improve blood sugar levels and reduce your risk of developing full diabetes.

People who are overweight

While not all the experts are convinced, there’s evidence that lowering the overall GI of your diet by eating low-GI foods may help you lose weight. That being said, some food that’s low GI could be high in kilojoules, so don’t rely on it alone.

People with high cholesterol and heart disease

This is also debated, but there’s some good evidence low-GI diets may help improve heart disease risk factors.

People with hypoglycaemia

Low-GI foods give a less dramatic and more sustained blood sugar release, so some people may find that low-GI snacks are useful to get them through between meals.

GI labelling

GI claims appear on all sorts of carbohydrate foods; some labels simply say low GI, while others give a GI test figure. There’s no food standard that specifically covers the GI labelling of foods, so you really have to trust the manufacturer’s claims.

One way to be sure of a product’s GI is to look for the symbol. Foods with this symbol must also list the exact GI figure near the nutrition panel. To display this label the GI will have been and must also meet other nutrition criteria, depending on the type of food. The food must also be a healthy choice in its category.

The GI symbol is a nonprofit program founded by the and the . Companies pay a licensing fee to be part of the program and use the logo.

So will a low-GI diet help me lose weight and fight flab?

It might. A of the scientific evidence on GI and obesity found overweight and obese adults on low-GI diets lost on average 1kg more than those on conventional weight-loss diets. Not only did they lose more weight, they also lost more body fat and had greater improvements in their cholesterol levels as a result.

Two of the studies examined didn’t control how much the dieters ate, but advised them to choose low-GI carbohydrate foods and include protein and healthy fats at each meal and snack. They were allowed to eat and snack when they were hungry – restricting kilojoule intake was not a primary concern.

The results from these studies led the authors of the Cochrane review to conclude low-GI diets work as well as or better than conventional diets even when the amount of food eaten is not restricted. That’s because low-GI foods seem to fill you up more and satisfy you for longer.

But not all experts agree…

While many high-profile scientists are enthusiastic about the potential for low-GI diets in weight loss, there’s some disagreement. Some scientists believe the evidence still has a considerable way to go before it’s proven, citing other studies that found little or no difference in weight loss between low-GI and traditional low-fat diets.

There have been some large studies completed since the 2007 Cochrane review that didn’t find an effect, sparking further debate. And some studies suggest that any effect may be significant only in certain types of people. As with most diets, there’s no simple answer and more research is needed to identify the real benefits, and what happens long term.

GI values of everyday foods

You can search the University of Sydney’s for exact GI values of foods, but see our quick guide to common foods below for a rundown.

Potatoes

Potatoes aren’t all created equal. Most are high GI, with some like desiree and mashed pontiac right up near the top of the GI scale. But Carisma potatoes are low GI, with a rating of 55.

Pasta

When starchy foods are cooked, the starch grains absorb water – the more they absorb, the easier the body finds it to get to the starch, and the higher the GI. So while most pasta falls into the low GI category, al dente pasta is even lower.

Rice

Different varieties of rice contain different types of starch, which is why jasmine rice is very high GI, while basmati and other rices high in amylose starch are medium.

Breads

Breads are mostly high. In both regular white and wholemeal breads, the grains are ground and the outer coating of the grain is broken, so digestive enzymes can get to the starch easily. Very grainy multigrain bread and sourdough loaves are lower – it’s the acidity of traditional sourdough bread that results in lower GI. You can also buy specially developed low-GI white breads.

Vegetables

Most vegetables don’t contain much carbohydrate, so their GI is negligible. The exceptions are starchy vegetables like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, pumpkin and corn.

Sugar

At 65, sugar is actually only medium GI. This is because each molecule of table sugar (sucrose) is made up of one molecule of glucose (which contributes to the GI) and one of fructose. The fructose heads straight to your liver for burning and doesn’t change your blood sugar level. Even though many sugary foods have a moderate or even low GI, it doesn’t mean they are the best diet choices – sugar adds kilojoules but no valuable nutrients.

Fruit

Fresh fruit is generally low GI, although a few such as cherries, apricots, pineapple and rockmelon are medium range. The notable exception is watermelon, which has a high value. Dried fruits are mainly low or medium.

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Regular exercise and a healthy diet may help reduce cholesterol levels, but if your cholesterol is particularly high there are extra measures you can take, like taking cholesterol-lowering medications or eating cholesterol-lowering foods.

Getting on the sterols

More and more products that claim to help lower your cholesterol are showing up on supermarket shelves. Where previously this added benefit was offered by spreads alone, you can now get yoghurts and milks that do the same job, with cholesterol-lowering breakfast cereals on the horizon. And there’s good evidence that they do what they say.

These products have been enriched with plant sterols (also known as phytosterols), which have a similar chemical structure to cholesterol. When eaten, they’re thought to compete with and block the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine, ultimately reducing the amount of cholesterol that ends up in your blood.

Eating 2–3 g per day of plant sterols in the form of enriched spread, yoghurt, milk or a combination of these products can help lower your cholesterol.

These products can have an impact on your cholesterol levels in a matter of weeks. But as with cholesterol-lowering medication, you need to have them daily for the benefits to last, so the costs can quickly add up.

Who can they benefit?

People at risk of heart disease and in particular those who have high blood cholesterol levels (total cholesterol of 5.5mmol/L or more) can benefit from eating products enriched with plant sterols. Research shows that if you lower your blood cholesterol levels, you lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. Some research suggests that a reduction in LDL cholesterol levels by about 10% could reduce the risk of heart disease by 20–25% – although a benefit this great is most likely in someone with risk factors (a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, being overweight or a smoker, for example) as well as high blood cholesterol.

Choosing the right mix to lower your cholesterol

Products enriched with plant sterols can work together with cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins, as well as cholesterol-lowering diets, to lower blood cholesterol levels even further, but they’re not meant to replace your medication. And if you’re taking cholesterol-lowering medication, check with your doctor first before eating foods enriched with plant sterols.

People with familial hypercholesterolaemia (an inherited genetic condition that results in high blood LDL cholesterol levels from birth) or diabetes may also benefit from eating these products. However, recent research has suggested that people with metabolic syndrome (also known as Syndrome X) may not. People with a very rare, inherited metabolic disease called sitosterolaemia shouldn’t eat these products.

Are they safe?

Foods enriched with plant sterols are generally recognised as being safe to eat, although they haven’t been tested specifically for pregnant women. However, there’s rarely any need for pregnant or breastfeeding women or young children – unless under medical advice – to be concerned about lowering cholesterol.

There’s one small caveat: plant sterols have been shown to lower blood levels of the antioxidants beta-carotene and lycopene. So if you’re regularly eating products enriched with plant sterols, also eat additional fruit and vegetables – orange-coloured ones in particular – to help compensate for any loss.

Costs per serving (spreads vs alternatives)

Overall, spreads are the cheapest and yoghurts the most expensive way to get an equivalent amount of plant sterols (0.8g).

Eating about six teaspoons (three serves) of spread may seem at odds with the usual message to cut down on fat for a healthy heart.

However, the recommends you replace saturated fats (such as those found in butter and dairy blends) with healthier polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which sterol-enriched products have in abundance – and you have the benefits of plant sterols to help lower your blood cholesterol levels further.

Past ÌÇÐÄVlog testing has shown spreads to deliver the appropriate daily serving to help lower your cholesterol at under 17c. Alternatives such as yoghurts and milk with sterol are more expensive with milk costing you around 70 cents a serve while yoghurt can cost up to $2 a serve.

But if cost isn’t such a concern and you don’t normally use spreads, but do pour milk on your cereal and eat a tub of yoghurt every day, you might as well buy the more expensive sterol-enriched milk and yoghurt that you’ll be sure to eat enough of.

How much do you need?

Most of us eat about 200 to 400mg of plant sterols daily – vegetarians often eat more – via plant-based foods that contain them naturally, including vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, legumes, bread and cereals. But the amount recommended to get a significant cholesterol-lowering benefit is much more – 2 to 3g per day – and that’s where products enriched with plant sterols can really make a difference.

Research suggests that eating 2 to 3g of plant sterols daily can lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 10% on average. Eating more than this amount is unlikely to hurt you, but it’s unlikely to lower your cholesterol any further. Less than this amount will simply have a lesser result.

In order to get the recommended 2 to 3g of plant sterols a day, you need to eat about three standard serves of sterol-enriched products. This could be three cups of milk or two serves of spread and a tub of yoghurt or any other combination of sterol-enriched products – it’s the quantity not the type of product that matters.

Sterols aren’t a get out of jail free card

Even though sterol-enriched products are effective at helping to control cholesterol levels, high blood cholesterol needs to be managed under medical supervision. To reduce your overall risk of heart disease it’s still vital that you eat a healthy diet that’s low in saturated fat and high in fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and that you stop smoking and increase your activity. If your blood cholesterol levels are normal, there’s little advantage to eating these products – they’ll just cost you more money.

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