3 Reasons Why Drinking Green Tea Will Help You Lose Weight

There are many different weight loss suggestions floating around. Eat nutritious foods. Exercise daily. But, what about a suggestion that doesn’t take any work or planning? What about one that actually refreshes your soul as much as it helps your body take off that excess weight?

That is what green tea does for you. It has the ability to make your weight loss seem almost effortless. Well, other than having to actually brew the water to make the tea, that is.

Why is green tea so effective at weight loss? Here are three simple reasons:

Reason #1: It makes you burn more fat

Green tea contains catechins which essentially raise your metabolism so that your body burns off more fat than it normally would. Several studies have found that individuals who added drinking green tea to their daily regimen and changed nothing else lost not only weight, but fat weight.

That is wonderful in and of itself, but add that to the fact that green tea also helps lower your risk of heart disease and cancer and it makes this one tasty beverage heads above the rest.

Reason #2: It lowers your stress levels

Although you may not ordinarily connect stress with weight issues, the two are very much related. You see, when you are under a lot of stress and feel constantly tense and anxious, your body increases its production of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that not only helps your body retain your fat levels, but it also promotes the retention of belly fat, which is the most dangerous fat to have.

Green tea has properties in it that help soothe your body naturally, but it is also very relaxing to sip on a cup of warm or hot tea while watching nature or simply spending time in silence. Essentially, the act of drinking it can be as soothing as the tea itself.

Reason #3: It is easy to do

When you look at a lot of weight loss suggestions, most require a bit of work. To eat healthy means that you have to go to the grocery store and buy nutritious food and then come home and cook it. Exercise, of course, takes a bit of work as well which is why a lot of people shy away from doing it on a regular basis.

But, what kind of work is there to making green tea? Not really much. Just throw the water on the stove or in the microwave, throw in the green tea and you’ve got a weight loss drink that is easy as can be. All you have to do is drink it and enjoy the benefits. How hard is that?

How Much Green Tea Should You Drink?

Health experts vary on their recommendations, but the general consensus is four or more cups a day. That may seem like a lot, but there are several ways to get it in.

• Swap your morning coffee for tea and you will easily meet, if not exceed, your quota if you are a person who is a pot a day java drinker
• Drink one cup in the morning and one cup after each meal to get at least four cups every day
• Have two cups in the morning to get you going and two cups at night to slow you down

You can split it up any way you like, just make sure you get at least four cups in and you’ll watch the fat begin to melt off your body, like snow on a sunny spring morning.

What if You Don’t Like the Taste of Green Tea?

Admittedly, tea is a lot like coffee in that you either like it or you don’t. So, what can you do to the tea to make it more pleasing to your taste buds?

You could add some honey to it to sweeten it up and cut some of the bitterness. Honey is also very good for you as it helps ease inflammation. It’s like getting two-for-one health benefits when you add it to your green tea.

Some people choose to add artificial sweeteners to it, but I personally don’t recommend it. Although it isn’t real sugar, it has the same general reaction in your blood stream and could incite your cravings for other sweet foods that aren’t as good for you, in addition to making you feel not your best if your blood sugar gets too high and then crashes.

If you really can’t stomach the taste of it, you can always make the tea weaker and just drink more of it. We’ve talked a lot about drinking it warm or hot, but you can also drink it cold as well if that helps.

Drink green tea and you’ll easily and effortlessly lose some of those excess pounds you’ve been carrying around for far too long. So, brew yourself a cup or glass and start losing weight today!